In the last decade over 50 countries have strengthened laws or policies relating to fertility.  Approximately 40 developing countries have issued explicit statements on population policy emphasizing the relationship to national development.  In several countries constitutional amendments have been passed reflecting a more positive attitude toward family planning.  High-level units, e.g.

This review considers the current legal status of sterilization in the countries of the world (legal by special statute, legal by lack of prohibition, illegal, and legal status unclear) and the issues in voluntary sterilization -- approaches to law reform; personal choice; therapeutic considerations; spousal consent; age and parity restrictions; assuring availability; informed consent; waiting periods; consent by institutionalized, minor, and incompetent persons; incentives and disincentives; and rights and liabilities of providers.  In both devel

 In France a riddle is used to instruct schoolchildren in the nature of exponential growth.  The riddle starts with a single leaf in the lily pond, with the number of leaves doubling each day.  The teacher asks when is the pond 1/2 full if it is full on the 30th day, and the answer is "on the 29th day." The world, now with a population of 4 billion, may already be at least 1/2 full.  If doubling of population occurs within the next generation, th

Over 40 countries have either updated or initiated laws and policies related to family planning since mid 1974.

 In most countries there have been recent shifts of legal policy in support of family planning as an integral part of national programs.  Restrictions on abortion and sterilization have been eased in some countries.  Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary have narrowed the relatively broad eligibility for abortion but called for added emphasis on family planning education.  In June 1974 an international symposium on Law and Population organized by the International Advisory Committee on Population and Law, UNFPA, and other internatio

An account of the principles and policies adopted at the World Population Conference (Bucharest, August 19-30, 1974) and at the conference on The Physician and Population Change (Stockholm, September 4-6, 1974) is presented.   The Plan of Action that emerged from the Bucharest conference called for increased socioeconomic development and decreased fertility, improvement in the status of women, better health care services research and training, and increased  international support for all population