Authors: Oakley, Maureen Rand; Rodriguez, Emilio

Source: Policy Studies, Volume 26, Number 2, June 2005 , pp. 211-227(17)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract:

While the Catholic Church opposes both artificial contraception and abortion, is the latter stressed more vehemently in Latin American countries facing rapid population growth than the former? While 90 per cent of Mexicans say their religion is Catholic, government policy encouraging the use of contraception has been quite successful. In twenty years the average family size in Mexico has fallen from 7 to 2.5. The population growth rate has dropped from 3.5 to 1.88 in 25 years. This article explores changes over time in government family planning policy in the two larger more developed countries of Mexico and Chile and the two smaller less developed countries of Haiti and Guatemala. The article seeks to identify the factors that most influence governmental policy action. Three forces are examined: neo-liberalism, women's rights groups, and the Catholic Church. To explore the influence of these three forces we employ a comparative case study approach, analyzing statements of Catholic Bishops, news article reports, government statistics and policy statements, and the reports of non-governmental organisations that focus on family planning. We find that neo-liberal forces are most dominant in Mexico and Chile, while the traditional cultural and religious forces of the Church are still very influential in Guatemala and Haiti. Additionally, due to extreme poverty, Haiti remains the most dependent on foreign-aid and outside political pressure to get family planning policies funded. The article demonstrates how governmental policy in the more developed nations of Chile and Mexico has been primarily influenced by neo-liberal forces in practice, but has attempted to appease both the Catholic Church and women's and human rights groups.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01442870500128194

Publication date: 2005-06-01

More about this publication?

• Editorial Board
• Information for Authors
• Subscribe to this Title
• ingentaconnect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites

Related content

• In this: publication
• By this: publisher
• In this Subject: Economics ,  Political Science
• By this author: Oakley, Maureen Rand ;  Rodriguez, Emilio

Website © Publishing Technology. Article copyright remains with the publisher, society or author(s) as specified within the article.

• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Information for advertisers