Access to birth control

At the beginning of the 19th century, increasing numbers of Canadians broached the issue of birth control and advocated the use of contraceptive methods, the sale and use of which had been outlawed in 1892. Many people condemned the immorality of contraception and saw it as a threat to the foundations of society. The Parents’ Information Bureau, founded in 1931, sent out envoys who offered advice on birth control as well as contraceptive devices at cost. Interest in the issue stemmed, for some, from a eugenic point of view: a concern with over-reproduction among the poor and the extent of what was regarded as “feeble-mindedness” in the population. Feminist groups pushed for the establishment of birth-control clinics, and new organizations were created to promote them. The decriminalization of contraception in 1969, and the marketing of the contraceptive pill during the same decade, contributed to the spread of contraceptive methods, although access to them continued to vary.