Overview Chapter 3: Birth regulation in Europe: Completing the contraceptive revolution

Early in the 21 st century modern contraception -primarily hormonal methods, advanced IUDs, sterilization and condoms -has become the main instrument of birth regulation in Northern and Western Europe and gaining ground in Southern Europe and the formerly state socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Legal induced abortion use, which was highly prevalent in Central and Eastern Europe, has been declining since the demise of authoritarian regimes around 1990. Nonetheless, abortions are still used in countries of the former Soviet Union and the Balkans, where the “abortion culture” had been deeply ingrained. Liberal abortion legislation, modern induced abortion technology, and modern contraceptives, have enhanced women’s health, been instrumental in childbearing postponement, have been a factor in changing partnership relations, and in the evolution of values regarding sexuality, reproduction, and childbearing, but they have not been a principal cause of contemporary low fertility. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is emerging and having a slight positive impact on fertility in some countries. 1 E-mail: [email protected] Frejka: Overview Chapter 3: Birth regulation in Europe: Completing the contraceptive revolution 74 http://www.demographic-research.org