In 1968 one book really hit the best seller list. It was Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich’s “The Population Bomb: Population Control or Race to oblivion?” People back then paid attention. Dr. Ehrlich made the rounds of the talk shows,, and pundits offered plans for salvation. But the book also got the attention of the religious community and of those who advocated for constant growth. For them, birth control and abortion were immoral and fewer people threatened increasing development and consumption. Among those groups, enthusiasm for the book and its message waned.

But according to one scholar, a major blow struck the anti-population movement in 1994 at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. An alliance of feminists and social justice groups redefined family planning programs as coercive and as limiting women’s choice. Women, they said, have the right to as many children as they want. Population control became politically incorrect.

To the…