Emergency Contraception: The Story of a Global Reproductive Health Technology

Worldwide, more than one fourth of all pregnancies are unintended. Emergency contraceptives are used after sexual intercourse to reduce the risk of pregnancy and have the potential to significantly decrease the incidence of unplanned, unwanted, and mistimed pregnancy. But despite its safety and efficacy, emergency contraception continues to spark political controversy worldwide. In this edited volume, authors explore how emergency contraception has been received, interpreted, and politicized. Throughs the in-depth examination of the journey of emergency contraception in 16 individual countries, this book reveal the ways that a global reproductive health technology is inflected with local cultural meaning and simultaneously influenced by transcendent challenges that condition the introduction of a new technology.

Globally, more than one fourth of all pregnancies are unintended. Emergency contraceptives are medications or devices that can be used after sex to reduce the risk of pregnancy. But despite their safety and efficacy, emergency contraceptive pills have sparked controversy worldwide. In examining the journey of emergency contraceptive pills in 14 countries and contexts, this volume explores the ways that a global reproductive health technology is inflected with local cultural meaning and simultaneously influenced by transcendent challenges that condition its introduction. These portraits of activism and opposition highlight the range of social, cultural, religious, and political contexts that shape the interpretation of new medical technologies.

Forward: Emergency contraception: Hopes & realities--James Trussell * Introduction: The politicization and cultural construction of a global reproductive health technology--L. L. Wynn and Angel M. Foster * The United States--L. L. Wynn * Canada--Joanna Erdman * Australia--Helen Calebretto * Britain--Ann Furedi * France--Erin Gainer * Jamaica--Dawn Chin-Quee * Mexico--Raffaela Schiavon and Elizabeth Westley * Chile--Verónica Schiappacasse and Soledad Diaz * Tunisia--Angel M. Foster * Lebanon--Faysal El Kak * Morocco--Saad Harti * Kenya--Jill Keesbury * South Africa--Teresa Harrison and Jenni Smit * Uganda--Jill Keesbury * Bangladesh--Sharif Hossain and ME Khan * Burma/Thailand--Cari Sietstra * Conclusion--Elizabeth Westley