What if birth control hadn’t been invented?

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it was invented ca 1960, and changed the world a lot. What would the world be like if it hadn’t been invented?

On first glance, it looks like conservatives would have it better, and liberals would have it worse. But Birth control is an issue that both parties use to drum up support from their bases, so it would be gone, and both parties might have a harder time getting votes.

On the other hand, this would increase fertility in western countries, which could cause some interesting butterflies with regards to funding things like social security.
 
The only birth control methods that I’m aware of existing before the 60s are condoms and pulling out, both of which are the man’s responsibility.
Glad you put 'that you are aware of' because there are other birth control methods. Here is a list of 20 methods that I found on the web, not all of them existed before the 60's but some did. Oh as you can see condoms are made in male and female versions.
 
French managed to reduce their population growth in 19th century, so tech isn't necessaryly high to reduce birth rate. And Japan appear to prefer abortion than contraceptive pill. In the end, society would find a way to manage their birthrate, even if one way is impossible.
 

Marc

Donor
If you all go down the list the L4a1 provided, you'll find the most common historical birth control method, and may be still is: non-vaginal sex. Also known as outercourse.
Also has the advantage of being 100% effective.
 
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"The birth rate declined after the introduction of the Pill, but as historian Elaine Tyler May points out, this was inevitable because the 1950s was an aberrant decade for women's reproductive activity. Rates of premarital sex had been rising since the 1910s; in the 1920s twice as many couples re-ported having premarital sex than the previous decade. By the early 1950s about half of all women had engaged in premarital sex, and the rate rose every decade for the rest of the century. The rate of teen births was increasing as well; by 1957 almost 10 percent of 15- to 19-year-olds were having babies. and 85 percent of those girls were married. In 1959 half of American brides were younger than 19. So, those idealized images of midcentury America retected a unique phenomenon: 1950s teenaged girls were more likely than previous generations to engage in premarital sex, marry young, and have children young." https://books.google.com/books?id=9YQ6DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA168
 
it was invented ca 1960, and changed the world a lot. What would the world be like if it hadn’t been invented?

On first glance, it looks like conservatives would have it better, and liberals would have it worse. But Birth control is an issue that both parties use to drum up support from their bases, so it would be gone, and both parties might have a harder time getting votes.

On the other hand, this would increase fertility in western countries, which could cause some interesting butterflies with regards to funding things like social security.
hmm I think birth control broadly defined has existed since the invention of the condom and spermicidal/barrier sponges, not entirely effective of course, unlike buggery, but still existent since classical times.
 
French managed to reduce their population growth in 19th century, so tech isn't necessaryly high to reduce birth rate. And Japan appear to prefer abortion than contraceptive pill. In the end, society would find a way to manage their birthrate, even if one way is impossible.

It happened because of societal transformation more than technological improvements, proof that the techs are already available at this time (plus France wasn't exactly the richest place on Earth at this time)
 
ASB
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It is ASB that no Birth controll ever get's invented.

While it is a physical impossibility to remove the potential for 'the pill' entirely, it could be possible for the pill to enter society differently. Maybe the pill could be discovered at a later date? If the pill is never legalised, it may still be produced and consumed. Instead of large companies mass producing COCP, COCP may become a black market product. Produced by cartels, companies(secretly or using loopholes, perhaps making the ingredients and selling them seperatly) and independant groups. The law around stopping COCP may be lax if it's banning is not widely supported. Likely birth controll would be a more important part of the 'culture war'.
 
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Marc

Donor
Side bar to all this: Approximately 10% of the adult population is infertile. The number of married couples that are "naturally" infertile is about 20%. Prior to modern biomedical developments, this wasn't insignificant.
 
My wife has polycyclic ovarian syndrome and took birth control pills to regulate her cycle. If that didn’t exist, whatever treatment there would be for this condition would be hit-or-miss at best and barbaric or nonexistent at worst. She may even be dead. She’s alive - and we have two wonderful children - partly in thanks to the pill and an awesome OB.
 
Illegal - and potentially dangerous - chemical birth control mechanisms were used long before the pill were invented. If chemical birth controls are marketed as "not for human consumption" - a loophole so-called "legal highs" often used to allow them to be sold - they could still be obtained.

As mentioned above, various forms of birth control have been used for thousands of years.
 
The only birth control methods that I’m aware of existing before the 60s are condoms and pulling out, both of which are the man’s responsibility.

Condoms are both partners responsibility. If it's a consensual sex situation, either partner can say no to having sex without a condom.

I'm sure that it's been less socially acceptable for women to seek out or purchase condoms, so that side of it has been more on the man.
 
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