Ideological Influences on International Family Planning Policy and Their Effect on Women’s Reproductive Agency

By Benedite Dieujuste '20

Thesis Advisor: Professor Amrita Basu

Abstract: How has international family planning policy (IFFP) developed and what have been the major ideological influences? How have women been affected by family planning policy and how have they responded to these influences? Through a chronological analysis from the 1960s to the 2000s of the ideologies and policies supported by Malthusians, the Vatican, and Right-wing populists, we can see how the threats towards women’s reproductive agency have changed over time from eugenic antinatalism to coercive pronatalism to recently a combination of the two. Feminist activists formed international alliances to establish IFPP that centered women’s reproductive health and rights in the 1990s but have their activism has waned in the face of newer threats to reproductive rights. This thesis analyzes how Malthusians, the Vatican, and Right-wing populists have disregarded women’s reproductive agency in the context of their involvement IFFP. It then explores the successful feminist activism in the 1990s against the influences of Malthusianism and the Vatican on IFFP and recent responses to right-wing populists. It concludes on how the Reproductive Justice framework can be utilized to guide future feminist responses to new threats to women’s reproductive agency.