HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL ATTITUDES TO FERTILITY – OVERPOPULATION
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The decision to have a child must be the most fateful a person ever makes, involving as it does the creation of a new human being. Until comparatively recently in human history (the last 200 years), greater concern has been focused on fertility and the ability to have children to ensure the continuity of the human race, rather than the prevention of pregnancy. It is easy to lose sight of this historical legacy in the face of the problems to do with overpopulation. The barren woman unable to have children has always had a negative image. Thus the emphasis was on the ability to conceive. Fertility rites, spring festivals and the ancient fertility goddesses all bear witness to that (Neumann, 1955). All religions are pronatalist and anti-abortion, except in special circumstances. Couples were, and in some cases still are, urged ‘to be fruitful and multiply’, and ‘to replenish the curth’ as stated in the Book of Genesis. The purpose of sex was procreation and the gift of life was regarded as God-given. Riches were measured in the number of children a couple had, especially sons.
National governments too are involved in individual decisions about fertility. Although there are 75 countries in which the birth rate is considered to be too high, there are still 21 where there are national policies aimed at increasing the number of births (United Nations, 1990).
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