# "Birth" Control?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control/509783>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 12, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control/509783 "2009-09-12T03:08:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control/509783/1 "2009-09-12T03:08:21Z")

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Based on another post, I’ve always wondered why is contraception called “birth” control and not something such as “pregnancy” control? The former seems to imply when one wants to give birth. “Hmmm…I’m due on November 11, but I have a seminar that week. I’ll push my labor to November 18.”

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**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control/509783/2 "2009-09-12T03:21:50Z")

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My guess: Birth control is a fairly old term; as far as I know we didn’t have the ability to delay birth and little ability to induce it back when it was coined. So the distinction didn’t matter back then.

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**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control/509783/3 "2009-09-12T03:31:13Z")

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Pregnant was a word that was not uttered in polite company. You’d say something like Mrs So and So is “expecting”. Of course birth control wouldn’t have been discussed either, so I’m not sure. But maybe it could be said between doctor and patient.

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**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control/509783/4 "2009-09-12T14:10:08Z")

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It’s [almost] never referred to as ‘birth control’ in Australia. Always ‘contraception’.

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**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control/509783/5 "2009-09-12T14:27:23Z")

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It could also be because the thing you’re trying to prevent is not pregnancy per se, but what happens when the pregnancy is over. Along the lines of, “It’s not the fall that kills you; it’s the sudden stop at the end.”

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**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control/509783/6 "2009-09-12T14:54:52Z")

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> [@](#):
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> It could also be because the thing you’re trying to prevent is not pregnancy per se, but what happens when the pregnancy is over. Along the lines of, “It’s not the fall that kills you; it’s the sudden stop at the end.”

No, you’re definitely trying to prevent pregnancy with hormonal and barrier methods.

Abortion is the only thing that could properly be termed ‘birth control’, IMO. Or perhaps the administration of drugs to push back or induce labor!