Population control–voluntary or otherwise—has taken on some interesting dimensions in the past year. 1970, as most people will recall, is the year in which the Pill was finally investigated by a Senate sub-committee, in the wake of growing complaints about the effectiveness of that method of contraception. Members of Women's Liberation, at the time of the hearings, made the point that women have been traditionally held responsible for birth control. The fight against the Pill, and a recent Malthusian development, will be considered in this article.

In the bygone 60's the Pill was widely used as the most effective method of Birth Control. As its use became more widespread, groans were heard, and researchers found that women complained of "more than 50 serious, sometimes fatal, side-effects, which MIGHT be caused by the Pill." This statement, part of the testimony at the Pill hearings, is an example of the research that has developed over the years. It says: "maybe the Pill is bad, but we don't know. Keep on using the Pill, ladies, and don't worry. After all, would you rather be dead or pregnant?"

Heavy side effects

Side effects of the Pill–headaches, skin eruptions, etc.—are widely acknowledged. The so-called complications, especially blood clotting, are harder to determine. The development of the Pill began in the early 50's, when a doctor, aided by Margaret Sanger, began research on an effective population control method for India. The original doctor was originally aided by Dr. John Rock, a Catholic physician.

Blood clots report

Pill manufacturers were aided by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which did its part by sending out encouraging letters to American doctors about oral contraception and which spent a miniscule amount of its total budget in contraception research. This procrastination seems absurd in the light of the events in other countries. For example, Norway withdrew the Pill because of a British medical report concerning blood clots. At the time (1962), there had been no adverse reaction to the Pill in that country.

The FDA, in it's striving for medical excellence, led the front in cyclamate research when it banned the artificial sweetener. It should be noted that cyclamates were found to be a cause of cancer in rats. Apparently, until the Pill kills a few monkeys, we'll never know how dangerous it really is. The FDA and most of the drug companies also pursue friendly relationships. Many administrators in the government agency have left to become drug corporation executives, and vice versa.

Well, for now at least, the Pill is not the greatest problem. It is convenient that, in New York State, a "permissive" abortion bill was passed by the State Legislature at about the same time as the Senate hearings.

Abortions are still expensive, and other methods aren't as effective as the Pill, and the search for a new type of preventative is on. Herewith, the best and most colorful of the lot, as proposed by Dr. Richard Schreiber, a professor of botany at the University of New Hampshire. (What does a botanist have to do with birth control, you ask? Well, friends, this man is concerned about ecological disaster!) Excelsior!

Airborne virus

"Schreiber is convinced that the population problem is going to cause mass famine within the next 15 years, and that in any case, the by-products of too many people will bring about the ecological death of the planet. The only solution he can see is to release a virus into the air which would make all woman infertile by interfering with the reproductive process... 'Don't you see how moral this would be?' he asks. 'For the first time, every baby would be a wanted baby. People would have to decide to have a baby, instead of having one by accident."

People would also have to ask the Man if they should have a baby. Schreiber's plan proposes that a birth control virus be released throughout the atmosphere. This virus, as was stated above, would affect only women. Couples wanting to have a baby would have to go through an unspecified governmental process to receive permission. The woman, if she did get permission, would be given an antidote. Subsequent generations would not have to be exposed to the virus, since females would be genetically sterilized. Another case of here today—gone today.

Schreiber's plan, aside from its chilling Minderbinder-like absurdity/pragmatism, brings to mind some interesting plans. The good professor would like to see the antidote dispensed throughout the United Nations. This activist group, acting with the veto-power influence of the Big Five, could refuse to give the antidote to a dissident nation, thereby destroying it by elimination. Official disagreement with customs could also bring withdrawal of the antidote—hippies and homosexuals beware.

Political genocide reigns

Most importantly, no one can say what the stability of any international organization is. The United Nations has very little impartiality and even less fairness. Population control would be handled by the fittest—i.e. the big powers, who have not been universally known to act altruistically in the past. Aside form the fact that this plan has heavy genocidal implications, the actual creation of life would be controlled by an outside agency. The main victims of this type of totalitarianism would be women. Women aren't allowed much in this society, and restricting procreation would be the final solution to the woman problem.

Schreiber believes that this method can be made feasible soon—possibly within the next few years. Much talk has been centered in the past years on political genocide and the time has now come for its realization. Withholding the antidote could severely restrict and even destroy entire races. That is genocide. And it will all be done in the name of population control.