Adelaide Harris

5/3/16
IDP #4
The Pill- A Revolution by Adelaide Harris, December 31st, 1989
Now is the time of year that we begin to look back. These past few years have been
tumultuous for Americans. Changes made years ago are still affecting us.
One of the most revolutionary changes was the development and legalization of the
pill- oral contraceptives. The pills have hormones in them that prevent the user from becoming
pregnant. The pills keep eggs from leaving the ovaries, and also thicken the cervical mucus.
Combined, this prevents the user from being impregnated during unprotected sex (WebMD). It
should be noted that the pill does not stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. There has
been evidence of negative side effects later in life, but this seems to have no impact on the
widespread use of the pill (Planned Parenthood).
In 1984, only five years ago, an estimated 50 to 80 million women used the pill. Even in
1965, one out of every four married women under the age of 45 had at least tried the pill once
(Planned Parenthood). Oral contraceptives have changed the way women live. They now can
wait and choose when to have children, which has meant that more women can stay in the
workplace longer. Women feel a greater sense of sexual freedom. The idea of motherhood and
sex are no longer intertwined. The pill provides a sense of control for women that had previously
been denied. Perhaps nobody summed it up better than Loretta Lynn in her 1975 song Pill.
Lynn sings that All these years I've stayed at home while you had all your fun / And every year
that's gone by another baby's come / There's gonna be some changes made right here on nursery
hill / You've set this chicken your last time cause now I've got the pill.
The pill didnt come without a fight. In 1873, the Comstock Act was passed, which
banned the use of all birth control. Margaret Sanger, later to be the founder of Planned
Parenthood, opened the first American birth control clinic in 1916, and was promptly arrested.

Adelaide Harris
5/3/16
IDP #4
By 1938, the Comstock Act had been overturned. The idea of a pill came up a little over a decade
later, and medical trials began in 1956. In 1957, the Food and Drug Administration approved the
use of Enovid, the first oral contraceptive, but only to regulate menstruation. Many women went
to their doctors and complained of menstrual problems so that they would be prescribed Enovid.
Three years later, Enovid was approved as a contraceptive, but it wasnt until Griswold v
Connecticut, in 1965, that married couples were allowed to use birth control. At this time, around
6.5 million women were on the pill. Many more joined them in 1972, after the decision in Baird
v Eisenstadt made it legal for all citizens to use birth control (Thompson). It took 99 years, from
the Comstock Act to Baird v Eisenstadt, for birth control rights to be fully allocated.
There have been many critics of the pill. In Barbara Seamans book The Doctors Case
Against the Pill, she argues that the pill is too dangerous to women. In response to her concerns,
Senator Gaylord Nelson held hearings on the safety of the pill in 1970. Gynecologist Hugh Davis
was called to testify. Davis was anti-pill, and it was later revealed that he had a financial stake in
the development of the IUD, another contraceptive. Not a single woman was asked to testify
about her experiences with the pill. It was decided that packagers of the pill must include inserts
describing possible side effects (Planned Parenthood).
Its hard to imagine a world without the pill. It would mean a world without choice or
control for many women. Just one small pill, taken once a day, caused the deepest change of the
past century. The pill is a victory: for science, for women, and for the future.

Works Cited

Adelaide Harris
5/3/16
IDP #4
The Birth Control Pill: A History, Fact Sheet. Planned Parenthood. N.p., n.d. Web. 2
May 2016.
<https://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/1514/3518/7100/Pill_History_FactSheet.pdf>.
Birth Control Pills. Planned Parenthood. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2016.
<https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control/birth-control-pill>.
Gibson, Megan. The Long, Strange History of Birth Control. Time 2 Feb. 2015: n. pag.
Web. 2 May 2016. <http://time.com/3692001/birth-control-history-djerassi/>.
Low-Dose and Ultra-Low-Dose Birth Control Pills. WebMD. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May
2016. <http://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/low-dose-birth-control-pills>.
Pill. Back to the Country. Perf. Loretta Lynn. 1975. AZLyrics. Web. 3 May 2016.
<http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/lorettalynn/pill.html>.
Thompson, Kirsten M.J. A Brief History of Birth Control in the U.S. Our Bodies
Ourselves. N.p., 14 Dec. 2013. Web. 2 May 2016.
<http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/a-brief-history-of-birth-control/>.