838 



Surveys in Rio de Janeiro, Argentina, and Lima and Chimbote in Peru 

 indicate that women from poor circumstances are more aware of the 

 disadvantages of additional children than women from a more privi- 

 leged background, but again, because of their ignorance of the latest 

 contraceptive techniques, the poorer women have more children. But 

 these same poor women also show a startling high incidence of induced 

 aboi-tions, despite the fact that the Catholic Chuch proscribes abortion. 



Such evidence, combined with the fact that predominantly Catholic 

 countries outside the Western hemisphere have achieved low birth 

 rates, led former Senator Joseph Tydings to conclude that Catholicism 

 would not necessarily be an obstacle to family planning in Latin Amer- 

 ica, and that the United States should continue to encourage such pro- 

 grams in that area as an integral aspect of total economic develop- 

 ment.^" However, there is also evidence to suggest that Church senti- 

 ment against birth control exercises considerable influence on the pop- 

 ulation policies of some Latin American governments. Thus, while some 

 form of family planning education or research is carried on in almost 

 every Latin American country, in only a handful of these is there any 

 kind of public, government-supported program. In Mexico, Brazil, 

 and Argentina, certainly three of the most important Latin American 

 countries, the official policy is anti-birth control. One element contribut- 

 ing to this stand in each country was the negative attitude of the 

 Catholic Church.^" Uruguay also officially opposes birth control. After 

 the Pope issued Humanae Vitae, the government of Colombia post- 

 poned a family planning program it had been preparing to adopt. 



The authorities in Puerto Rico, a self-governing commonwealth 

 whose people are U.S. citizens, remained undecided on the issue of fam- 

 ily planning as long as the island's Church authorities were hostile to 

 it. In 1970 the Archbishop of San Juan signified "conditional ap- 

 proval" to a government-sponsored family planning program, and 

 now it is thought that the Commonwealth government will give more 

 enthusiastic support to the program.^^' 



In summary, the evidence appears to show that the p)oorer classes 

 in Latin America are receptive to the idea of family planning, despite 

 the teachings of the Church. The Church as an institution, however, 

 retains sufficient influence to constitute an important component of 

 those elements in Latin America which inhibit the introduction of 

 family planning on a larger scale, and thus limit the range of choice 

 by which these poorer classes may keep down the number of their off- 

 spring. Yet some of the younger, radical Latin American priests not 

 only reject the Pope's pronouncements on contraception, but actually 

 participate in birth control programs. 



Administrative Weaknesses in tlie LDCs 



Perhaps the greatest operational difficulty in running programs 

 that would limit family size is the general administrative weaknesses 

 of the LDCs. Managerial skill sufficient to administer large-scale pro- 

 grams effectively is difficult to come by in the developed countries. It 



'2^ Joseph D. TydlnRS. "Born to Starve." (New York, Morrow, 1970). page 31. 



12* The opposition to family planning is found more among the hierarchy and the older 

 priests. Tlie young priests working in the slums tend to be favorably inclined toward birth 

 ron'rol and family planning. Source : Conversation with Mr. Thomas Lyons, Popnlation 

 Offioe, AID. 



125 "People." (Washington, D.C., Population Reference Bureau, May 1970), page 3. 



