The Politics of Norplant: Reproductive Justice, Population Control, and Social Policies in the 1990s - Justina Licata

Abstract: 

The Politics of Norplant: Reproductive Justice, Population Control, and Social Policies in the 1990s 

This book project is the first complete historical study of Norplant, the first subdermal contraceptive implant technology. In 1990, U.S. feminists and doctors celebrated Norplant’s FDA approval, believing that the birth control method would afford women greater reproductive control. But feminists in the global South had been claiming the drug’s testing trials were unethical. They warned their U.S. counterparts that Norplant would be used as a form of “population control.” Within months, their predictions began to play out. U.S. judges, lawmakers, and community leaders pressured poor and minority individuals to use Norplant. Outraged by the coercive use of the device, Black, Indigenous, and people of color reproductive justice activists launched campaigns to get rid of Norplant and halt the policies targeted at poor and marginalized populations. In addition to feminists, anti-abortion activists and members of the Nation of Islam spoke out against Norplant, creating unexpected bedfellows. In the mid-1990s, class action lawyers took up the cause, using feminists’ arguments to help them file over 200 lawsuits. The actions taken by activists of color in conjunction with the legal battle caused Norplant’s sales to plummet and led to the end of the drug’s distribution in the U.S. in 2002. This research contributes to emerging histories of neoliberalism, welfare reform, and social movements in the 1990s. Additionally, this project closely documents the early stages of the reproductive justice movement, and it introduces class action lawyers as significant political players, demonstrating how they used feminist ideologies in their litigation against Norplant.

Biography: 

Dr. Licata is an assistant professor of U.S. History. Her research, which examines the first subdermal implantable contraceptive device, Norplant, explores the history of population control, reproductive justice, and neoliberal social policies in the 1990s. This research has been supported by the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, the Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History at Smith College, and Indiana University East’s Summer Faculty Fellowships program. At Indiana University East, she teaches contemporary U.S., African American, and women’s history. Additionally, Dr. Licata enjoys creating podcasts. Her first, "Choice or Coercion: The Biography of Norplant," links her research of Norplant to contemporary political discussions about bodily autonomy, and her collaborative podcast, "The Stories We Tell," utilizes biography to explore historical memory. Dr. Licata has also written two pieces for Nursing Clio, a peer-reviewed and collaborative blog dedicated to tying historical scholarship of gender and medicine to contemporary issues.