Contraception: A History of Its Treatment by the Catholic Theologians and Canonists

by John T. Noonan Jr.

Originally published in 1965, Contraception received unanimous acclaim from all quarters as the first thorough, scholarly, objective analysis of Catholic doctrine on birth control. More than ever this subject is of acute concern to a world facing serious population problems, and the author has written an important new appendix examining the development of and debates over the doctrine in the past twenty years. John T. Noonan, Jr., traces the Church’s position from its earliest foundations to the present, and analyzes the conflicts and personal decisions that have affected the theologians’ teachings on the subject.

561 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1966

About the author

John Thomas Noonan, Jr. (1926-2017) was a Senior Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with chambers in San Francisco, California. He was appointed in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan.

Affiliations:
United States. Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)
University of California, Berkeley. School of Law
University of Notre Dame. Law School