Until 1969, contraception was illegal in Canada. According to the Criminal Code, it was an offence to advertise or sell anything designed to prevent conception or cause abortion. In this book, Brenda Appleby analyses the process of legislative reform that ended in the removal of such references from the Code.
An analysis of the process of legislative reform that led to 1969 decriminalization of selling and advertising of products designed to prevent contraception. Appleby focuses on the voice of religion in the debate.
Until 1969, contraception was illegal in Canada. According to the Canadian Criminal Code, it was an offence to advertise or sell anything designed to prevent conception. In this book, Brenda Appleby analyses the process of legislative reform that ended in the removal of such references from the Code.
In the latter years of the 1960s, a series of public hearings got the debate on contraception well underway. Appleby focuses on the role that the voice of religion came to play in the debate, arguing that the churches of Canada made two significant contributions: first, by advocating responsible parenthood, and second, by drawing a clear distinction between civil law and moral law.
Current concerns over new reproductive technologies reveal that we continue to be uncertain about the role of law with respect to matters of morality and socially contested values. Informed by hindsight, this book offers a timely overview of the evolution of thought in response to a specific moral issue regulated by law.
