Infanticide
Conclusion
There are four ways to avoid conceiving or to eliminate unwanted children: abstinence, contraception, abortion, and infanticide. Although abstinence was and is practiced in some societies by customs of late marriage, postpartum sex taboos, and customary periods of celibacy, it has never prevented all unwanted pregnancies. When these occurred in the past, infanticide was the safest method for disposing of the unwanted children. As medical advancements have been made, however, contraception and abortion have become more widely used and have replaced abstinence and infanticide as forms of birth control.
See also: ABORTION; BIRTH CONTROL: CONTRACEPTIVE METHODS; BIRTH CONTROL: SOCIOCULTURAL AND HISTORICAL ASPECTS; CHILD ABUSE: PHYSICAL ABUSE AND NEGLECT; DEATH AND DYING; EUTHANASIA; FAMILY PLANNING
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LEIGH MINTURN (1995)
BIBLIOGRAPHY REVISED BY
JAMES J. PONZETTI, JR.
Additional topics
Marriage and Family EncyclopediaFamily Social IssuesInfanticide - Prevalence, Time Of Occurrence, Methods, Vctims Of Infanticide, Female Infanticide, Theories, Acceptability And Legality