History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c96.s2.70

v7.c96.s2.70

Dr. Radhakrishnan in ‘Religion and Society’ (published in 1947) concedes (p. 189) that the use of contraceptives cannot be altogether forbidden, quotes Dawson to the effect that birth control by abstention is either ineffective or, if effective, pernicious (p. 90), that objections to birth control by contraceptives are due to their abuse and that in the present conditions facilities for birth control must be available, especially to poorer classes (p. 191). Contraceptives would have to be harmless to use, cheap, easy to use and absolutely reliable. The author is not sure if there are contraceptives of this type. Japan, a small country of islands, was compelled by the rapid growth of population to legalise abortions. Vide ‘Aggression and Population’ by F. James Dawson (London, 1946) for a thoughtful book on how to check worldwide growth of population. A thoughtful and exhaustive work is ‘Population and planned parenthood in India’ by S. Chandrasekhar, Director of Indian Institute for population studies, Madras (revised Edition of 1961).