Fertility Regulation and the Public Health

A lifetime of work by a dedicated scientist who monitored the growing variety of methods for the control of human fertility and foresaw the need for information on the social, psychological, economic, and political aspects of fertility regulation and the prevention of unwanted pregnancies and births is reflected in the pages of this book. It also chronicles a series of related revolutions: (1) major changes in attitudes to the voluntary control of human fertility, (2) growing freedom of discussion outside the medical community relating to human reproduction, and (3) recognition that gov- ernments have an appropriate role to play in programs involving these matters. As a result, official information systems have been established to guide the evaluation of programs and determine if and when changes in policy might be needed. Christopher Tietze, from whose writings the articles in this volume were selected, was a central figure in these developments. He was a physician whose major focus was social statistics. In effect, he became the scorekeeper of the world's efforts to avoid unwanted childbearing. He enlisted an ever-growing network of collaborators and prevailed on them to apply new tools to new issues.