[The policy of human biological reproduction in Brazil]. / A política de reprodução biológica humana no Brasil.

The author presents some of the historical determinations of the policies of human reproduction in Brazil, placing them among other social policies. She argues that reproductive profile of the social classes depends upon not only the biological reproduction, but also upon the work power.

PIP: When examining the issue of human reproduction in Brazil and its historical determinants it must be stated that even primitive societies were regulating fertility, but planning of human reproduction as a movement started around 1922 in the United States through the militancy of Margaret Sanger. This was a time of radical ideological transformation as a result of industrialization and urbanization in North America, which changed the role of women and that of the family. In Brazil the discussion of fertility regulation started in the early 1960s, when the Kennedy administration conditioned its economic assistance to Latin America on the adoption of population control programs, which was not well-received in these Catholic countries. The neo-Malthusian population concept originated in the international agencies, who saw fertility control as a solution to global economic problems. It also found acceptance among elite conservatives in Brazil because of the fear that the growth of poor people could subvert the prevailing social order. Since national interest arguments did not work in Brazil, the programs invoked arguments such as how high parity and high-risk pregnancies would affect the health of the mother; the disproportion between the number of children and family income of the poor; and the control of induced abortion. The economic development in Brazil in the 1950s was the basis of accepting neo-Malthusian reasoning. The debate about these programs involved the whole society. The Catholic Church, however, was the major opponent of a government-supported fertility control program. The capitalist state has assigned to women the role of reproducer and primary socializer of children, regarding motherhood as their principal role, and the control of access to contraceptives meant the continued subordinated of women in capitalist and patriarchal societies.

Family planning and population policy in Brazil.

PIP: Attitudes toward population growth and family planning in Brazil were discussed from a historical perspective and reasons for the government's failure to institute an efective family planning program were examined. During the colonial period, Portugal encouraged population growth in order to exert firm control over Brazil's vast and sparsely populated regions. A large number of African slaves were introduced, and the country's expanding population became recially mixed. Following independence in 1822, Brazilian governments continued to stress the need to expand the population. European immigration was vigorously promoted in order to dilute the population's African ancestry. During the 1900s, population growth became increasingly identified with the nation's destiny. In the 1950s and 1960s, despite the continuing pronatalist attitudes of the government, Brazil's middle and upper classes began to practice family planning. By 1965, the fertility rate began to decline. Between 1970-78 the total fertility rate declined from 4.911-3.983; however, the rate among the poor remained high. In 1965, the medical profession established the Brazilian Society of Family Welfare (BEMFAM) to promote and provide family planning services, especially for the poor. The organization provides these services through the existing network of private and municipal health facilities and works in cooperation with many local and state governments. BEMFAM's goal is to promote individual and family well-being, and BEMFAM strongly believes that the national government should assume responsibility for providing these services to the Brazilian population. In 1974 the Brazilian government presented a statement at the World Population Conference in Bucharest that lead many to believe that government's attitude toward population growth had changed. The statement recognized the right of all couples to have the number of children they wanted and the responsibility of the government to ensure that the poor also had this right. Futhermore, in 1978, President Geisel expressed fear of the consequences of continued population growth, and the current president, Figueiredo, recently noted that progress in family planning was a prerequisite for the continued social and economic development of the country. Despite these public statements, the government faled to implement effective population policies. The government now provides limited family planning services through the exisiting network of private hospitals and clinics. These servies are provided in the context of the government's maternal and child health program. The program is understaffed and underfinanced. As a result, the family planning component is frequently ignored. The programs lack of support stems from the pronatalist views still held by many government officials. The program is also resisted by national level officials of the Catholic Church. Brazil's population was 119 million in 1980 and is expected to increase to 185 million by the year 2000. If raid population continues, Brazil will not attain its desired status as a major developed country in the near future.^ieng

[The population of Chile: past, present and future]. / La poblacion de Chile: pasado, presente y futuro.

PIP: This letter is a response to the article entitled "The Population of Chile: past, present, and future" by Banjamin Viel. The author states that a population policy for Chile was first established in 1967, when the need for caution and for more than a demographic solution to the problem of underdevelopment were stressed. The birth control policy of the National Health Service, which sought exclusively to combat the practice of induced abortion, was defended. The reformist intentions and limited health objectives for the Frei government led directly to the conversion of Chile into a colony for massive experiments in contraception by powerful international organizations. The International Planned Parenthood Federation, Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, Population Council, US Agency for International Development, UNFPA, Unicef, CELADE, WHO, and PAHO invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to make Chile, in the author's words, "the paradise of family planning in Latin American and an example of international collaboration between foreign agencies and local organizations in underdeveloped countries." The spread of birth control in Chile in the 1960s was entirely due to international aid and financing. The 1st reactions originated in academic medical circles, followed by the Catholic Church and the Chilean Episcopate. The Allende government in 1970 condemned foreign intervention in birth control and the sperad of the ideology that economic development is a problem of overpopulation. Despite gathering opposition, little was done in the early 1970s to stop the natality decline. Foreign assistance conditional on the acceptance of family planning continued to be accepted due to the critical econoimc situation. The Armed Forces have finally become alarmed about the effect of the natlaity decline on Chile's defenses. Health improvements said to be due to the massive use of contraception are, according to the author, actually the result of improved health programs sponsored by the Chilean government. Even if health benefits of birth control are acknowledged, the social, genetic, and health costs paid by the Chilean people were too high.^ieng

[Elements of a better understanding and evaluation of population policy in the Dominican Republic]. / Elementos para una mejor comprension y evaluacion de la politica poblacional de la Republica Dominicana.

PIP: This work has 3 objectives: to clarify the concept of population policy, to examine different theoretical approaches to the analysis of a national population policy, and to describe the origin, development, and present characteristics of the population policy of the Dominican Republic. The concept of population policy is often confused with the related concepts of responsible parenthood, family planning, and birth or population control. Population policy may be defined as a coherent group of declarations, decisions, and actions following a rational strategy which, as part of a national development plan, is formulated and implemented by the state and additional social institutions in accordance with national needs. Its final goal is the protection and development of human resources through influencing population characteristics. Although recent attempts to apply the methods of political analysis to the area of population policy all suffer from limitations, 4 frameworks which respectively look at the 3 levels of population policy (the philosophic-ideologic, the scientific, and the practical); at the division of population policy into declarations, decisions, programs, and results; at criteria for evaluating the probability of success of a population policy; and at the stages of development of population policies in dependent countries can be of assistance in understanding and evaluating the population policy of the Dominican Republic. Until 1961, the end of the Trujillo era, a pronatalist attitude predominated in the Dominican Republic, prompted in part by fears of an aggressive and densely populated Haiti sharing the same island. From 1962-66, a gradual change in attitudes began in the private sector as various groups began quiet efforts at family planning and the Dominican Association for Family Welfare was formed and became an affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. During this stage the government remained neutral or offered quiet support, such as allowing tax-free importation of contraceptives. In the next stage, the government became more concerned with the population problem, culminating in the incorporation of free family planning services into the maternal-child health program. In the 4th stage of development, from 1968-73, a national family planning program was created according to a 5-Year Plan covering 1969-73 whose goal was a birth rate decline from 48/1000 in 1969 to 38/1000 by 1973. In the 5th stage, financial and technical aid from the Population Council was augmented by a closer link to UNFPA.^ieng

The development of population policy in Britain.

PIP: Demographic issues entered the arena of British politics at the beginning of the nineteenth century, after Malthus produced his Essay on the Principle of Population. A fertility decline began in the 1870s and the mean ultimate family size dropped from 6.16 for those married in the 1860s to just over 2 for marriages of the 1930s. The Population (Statistics) Act of 1938 made possible the calculation of precise reproduction rates and the analysis of current changes in fertility. In 1944, a Royal Commission on Population was established which made a number of recommendations including 1 that a population policy be established. Successive British governments showed little enthusiasm for the adoption of a positive policy on population growth, but a more purposeful attitude was adopted toward the problems associated with uneven distribution of population. In the late 1960s, public birth control services were extended, but they were regarded as a part of health care and not as an instrument of population policy. Measures were adopted to limit immigration from the British West Indies and other parts of the Commonwealth in the 1960s. In 1971 the government set up a panel of experts to assess the available evidence on the significance of population trends, and the government is currently considering the panel's report. Fertility has declined. The estimate of United Kingdom population for the end of the century was scaled down by 1971 from the 1964 figure of 75 million to a new projection of 63 million.^ieng