RE: Contraception

From: Bernuetz, Oliver: WPG <bernuetz.oliver_at_ic.gc.ca>
Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 10:06:13 -0400


Ian Gorlick suggested in Digest #200:

>However, for many households living on the edge of poverty an extra child
may be ruinous, so the >alternative would be infanticide. I lay odds that they choose abortion over infanticide. Rhythm method >and condoms are probably also used to reduce the odds of having to resort to abortion.

Another historically common alternative (especially in the eras prior to the 20th century) to both abortion and infanticide was fostering. My wife's grandfather was put into a famous English foster home just because his family couldn't afford to support him. Giving "unwanted" babies to relatives or rich acquaintances could be quite common in Orlanthi society, there's bound to be couples who can't have children or who are too old to have children yet their heirs have died in accidents or wars. There's probably a fair sized "market" for unwanted babies and thus little need (under normal levels of prosperity) to resort to either abortion or infanticide.

>A propos of rhythm method: would you suspect that female cultists linked to
the fertility rune would have >some extra insight into when they are fertile? Kind of like Orlanthi having a feeling about what the >weather will do? That could make the rhythm method much more effective.

I like this suggestion, it has a nice feel to it...

Oliver D. Bernuetz
bernuetz.oliver_at_ic.gc.ca


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