The World's Laws on Contraceptives

Abstract

To date there has been no reasonably full compilation of the legal situation in various countries covering the most important procedure for family planning; contraception. This document attempts to review and analyze the laws regulations and decisions in this field. The texts of laws regulations and decisions affecting contraceptives are rarely available in convenient and current form and the rules affecting contraceptives appear in the laws covering many fields: public health pharmacy medical ethics and other medical fields commerce industry foreign tariffs and education. Frequently governments have attempted to regulate the field through criminal laws. This tabulation contains many gaps due to the lack of information available from a particular country. Tribal and private law obstructions are not covered. The document contains a review of the rationales on which laws affecting contraceptives are based the older rationales prior to World War II the public moral rationale and the modern rationales: the human right of family planning the public health and welfare the excessive rate of population growth medical considerations and economic and commercial considerations. Regional approaches to contraception are given for North Africa and Asia Latin America tropical Africa Europe North America the Peoples Republic of China. Specific fields of regulation which are reviewed include: provisions relating to imports manufacture sale and distribution (particularly condoms oral contraceptives and IUDs); advertising and publicity (the origin of restrictions principal types of restriction and a general comment on the advertising limitations); and the use of the mails. After a review of types of legislation and the penal approach the document ends with a section on conclusions and a tabulation of countries.