Who Pays? Contraceptive Services and the Welfare State, 1963–1975

This chapter discusses changes in reproductive policy from 1963 to 1975. The first decade of government cooperation with private organizations in contraception reduced some social and economic “problems” associated with the indigent and low-income clients. Katherine Oettinger of DHEW reported that in 1964 only thirteen states allowed health departments to provide contraceptive services, but by 1967 forty-six states did so. By 1970, both state and federal governments had incorporated contraception as a principal component of public policy. This evolution resulted primarily from a desire to...

This chapter discusses changes in reproductive policy from 1963 to 1975. The first decade of government cooperation with private organizations in contraception reduced some social and economic “problems” associated with the indigent and low-income clients. Katherine Oettinger of DHEW reported that in 1964 only thirteen states allowed health departments to provide contraceptive services, but by 1967 forty-six states did so. By 1970, both state and federal governments had incorporated contraception as a principal component of public policy. This evolution resulted primarily from a desire to decrease mounting welfare expenditures. Individual women on the local level benefited from expanded clinic services and research into safe and effective methods of birth control.