Quinacrine has been one focus of the search for a safe and effective method of nonsurgical female sterilization. Questions about its safety and efficacy as well as about ethics, policy, rights, and the prioritization of resources have been raised by women's health advocates and agencies concerned with public health. Nevertheless, interest in the method by researchers and donors has continued. Yet, global experience shows that the users of contraceptive technologies possess perspectives necessary to successful and ethical research and introduction of any new method into general service. Without an inclusive process for discussing and resolving the many questions that continue to surround Quinacrine, the method is likely to face an embattled future and its pursuit may jeopardize other important efforts to make quality family planning and sterilization services available. (C) 2000 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

Building on the broad agenda set forth at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, this article articulates similarly broad expectations for informed choice in family planning service delivery. A framework developed by a Global Working Group in 1998 sets forth various issues into a single analysis of informed choice. In an effort to bring international perspectives to bear on the articulation of new objectives for the home front, the article applies this framework to the US research literature in family planning. Review of the literature indicates a heartening degree of attention to issues of access and choice, but it also uncovers challenges faced by clients and providers and gaps in what is known. Few studies look beyond access to how providers actually do or could better facilitate informed decision making within the family planning setting. Such studies could help improve innovative and ambitious service delivery approaches that go beyond meeting the reproductive health needs of clients to ensure rights, improve choice, and empower individuals.