The Tyranny of Reproductive Freedom
In discussing efforts to liberate the world from the so-called tyranny of pregnancy, Ann Farmer, British author and pro-life advocate, argues that we have instead fallen under a new form of tyranny, that of the reproductive experts.
Often presented under the guise of family planning initiatives, governments around the world have enacted population control policies deeply rooted in eugenic ideology, resulting in widespread death and destruction. These measures have caused grave human rights violations, including forced abortions and sterilizations, that have disproportionately targeted marginalized and vulnerable populations. Such actions represent a profound assault on human dignity, violating fundamental rights to life, freedom, and bodily integrity.
Population Control Policies
Inspired by Malthusian ideas, the United States and other developed nations deliberately sought in the 1960s to engineer a drastic reduction in fertility rates across the developing world. Dependent countries, reliant on the West for financial aid, military protection, and access to global markets, were often coerced into adopting anti-natalist policies ranging from the widespread distribution of contraceptives to coercive sterilization programs.
To institutionalize these goals, the Office of Population was established within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1966. Reimert T. Ravenholt was appointed as its first director and served from 1965 to 1979, a time in which the office became a major force in shaping global family planning and reproductive health policy. An epidemiologist by training, his view of pregnancy was that of a disease to be eradicated.
The Office of Population pursued what became known as the “inundation method”, a strategy to flood developing countries with contraceptives. Between 1968 and 1995, it shipped over 10.5 billion condoms, 2 billion cycles of birth control pills, more than 73 million IUDs, and 116 million vaginal foaming tablets overseas. In total, more than $1.5 billion was spent on purchasing, testing, marketing, storing, and distributing these devices.
South Korea offers a striking example of how foreign influence shaped national population policies. In 1961, under strong pressure from the U.S. government, South Korea launched a nationwide family planning program, heavily funded by foreign agencies such as USAID. Over time, it evolved into a de facto two-child policy, enforced with punitive measures.
Government officials with more than two children were denied promotions, while third and later-born children were excluded from state benefits such as health insurance and education. Couples who agreed to sterilization were rewarded with priority for public housing. By the time the Korean government began to question these policies in the mid-1990s, fertility had already entered a steep decline. As of 2025, South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world, with just 0.75 births per woman.
Other countries followed similar paths. Thailand, for instance, launched U.S.-supported population programs in 1962, while nations like Bolivia continue to receive millions in foreign aid from agencies like USAID to support reproductive health and family planning.
Instrumental Actors
In parallel, prominent figures actively contributed to the promotion of these policies. One of them was Margaret Sanger, who founded the American Birth Control League, later known as Planned Parenthood. Sanger sought to ensure “the elimination of the unfit”, opening birth control clinics that specifically targeted the poor, immigrants, and the disabled. Feminist also cooperated, giving the population control movement an additional tool by promoting contraceptives and abortion as means to “liberate and empower women”.
Another important proponent was John D. Rockefeller, who used his own fortune to establish the Population Council, the one that launched centers for demographic training and research in key cities such as Bombay (1957), Santiago (1958), and Cairo (1963). He played a major role in helping to establish national family planning programs in South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka, and worked actively to persuade the U.S. federal government to adopt his population agenda.
The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have also devoted significant resources to manage reduction of population programs around the globe. Even now, the agenda continues to move forward. The strategy has shifted toward promoting the concept of “sexual and reproductive rights”. Government and NGO alliances persist on this globally.
International law has become another instrument for similar purposes, often by reinterpreting agreements to present them as means of ”empowering women”, specifically through the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo and the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women.
Supporting the culture of life
What is presented as a campaign for liberation is, in reality, the fruit of long-standing prejudice, misleadingly presented with promises of freedom, autonomy, and a distorted understanding of the common good. Its effects of this tyranny have been poisonous across every continent.
This situation has been strongly opposed by the Catholic Church, which has explicitly condemned such practices as it argues that these policies not only violate fundamental ethical principles but also undermine human dignity and freedom of individuals. As John Paul II stated, the enforcement of population control policies has led to alarming reports of severe human rights violations, including forced abortions, sterilizations, and a rise in human trafficking.
Today, the world faces a demographic winter. The only effective response is a renewed commitment to policies that are centered on a culture of life, one that upholds the dignity of every human person, encourages the welcoming of new life, and supports families as the foundational unit of society.
-
The opinions, views, and statements expressed in these blogs belong solely to the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of the affiliated organization.
