Item Detail
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32010
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5
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4
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English
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Bodies, Babies, and Birth Control
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Dialogue : A Journal of Mormon Thought
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2003
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36
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3
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Farmington, UT
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Dialogue Foundation
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159-173
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"In this paper I will explore official and unofficial messages that the LDS church has sent to girls and women about childbearing during the twentieth century and the effect those messages have had on women's reproductive choices. First, I will examine the theological framework of these messages, which appears in all commentary and which grounds the issue as a basic principle of LDS belief. Next, I will chronicle some of the most influential statements made by leaders of the church regarding family planning, noting the widely divergent pronouncements over time and the various interpretations of the principle those pronouncements represent. Third, I will investigate actual family planning practices among 200 active women in the church during the twentieth century. My analysis will be based on women's real decisions and lived experiences as expressed in their own voices. Finally, I will assess how closely these women's practices correspond to the pronouncements made by churchleaders. It will be important, as part of this assessment, to discuss theways in which these women have negotiated their relationship with theinstitutional church regarding their reproductive choices." [Author]