The Politics of Catholic Medicine: 'The Pill' and Humanae Vitae in Portugal

Abstract

This chapter analyses historically the political, scientific and cultural values on sexuality and birth control in Portugal from the 1940s to the early 1970s, with an emphasis on the social actors who attempted to conciliate Catholic moral doctrines and the rationales of modern medicine. This analysis constitutes the background necessary to understand the impact of the Humanae Vitae in Portugal and proves significant, more widely, of the history of birth control under the Iberian authoritarian regimes of the twentieth century. To understand the intricacies involved in managing the ‘problem of the pill’, this study situates the question at the intersection of State politics, the different agendas within the Catholic Church, and an analysis focusing on the medical profession.