Historical Protestant Support for Birth Control Focused on Family, Not Feminism

Wed, 06 May 2026 19:23:00 +0200

In the mid-20th century, many Protestant leaders in the United States supported birth control not as a tool for women's liberation but as a means to promote what they called 'responsible parenthood.' This approach was closely tied to the ideal of the nuclear family, which was central to American political and cultural rhetoric during the Cold War. Leaders saw contraception as a way to help mothers devote themselves fully to child-rearing, strengthen family stability, and uphold moral and religious values. The development of the birth control pill in the 1950s accelerated this acceptance, framing contraception as a moral and practical tool to limit family size according to economic and spiritual considerations. While liberal Protestant denominations eventually embraced broader reproductive rights, including for unmarried individuals, evangelical and conservative groups became more cautious, viewing birth control as potentially encouraging sexual activity outside of marriage. Early suppo