A very unhappy birthday to the pill, 50 yrs old in May. Here is what 50 yrs of the pill has done to our world and women's lives.
Margaret Sanger and Katharine MCCormick, both advocates for women's rights since the early 20th century, teamed up in the 1950's to bring the pill project to its' inevitable conclusion. Margaret Sanger imagined the 1st contraceptive pill in 1912, and McCormick was not far behind. Both women anticipated the pill would be helpful for women's emancipation.
Once the FDA approved the pill, there was a mad rush by women to their doctors, demanding this wonderful new emancipating pill. This pill would allow women to gain control over their fertility and lives. They, not God, could decide whether or not they were having a child. They could take advantage of opportunities for education, work and a place in the political world.
In the United States, many claimed the pill, would free couples from unplanned pregnancies, improve their sex lives, and lower the divorce rate. Really? It's done the exact opposite. The divorce rate has more than doubled in the 60's and 70's. Another little fact, the pill didn't always work in preventing unplanned pregnancies. This helped lay the foundation for abortion on demand.
The medical consequences of the pill are tremendous. The hormonal shift in a woman's body can lead to depression, blood clots, infertility, cervical cancer and a strong indication that it plays a role in the breast cancer epidemic. The moral consequences of the pill have led to promiscuity, a greater amount of unwed pregnancies, abortion (most pills themselves are abortifacients). The divorce rate has climbed to record numbers. It turned women into objects rather than companions to their spouses, and diminished their gifts of motherhood and femininity. Pandora's box was opened and society is still reaping the evils that 50 yrs.of the pill has wrought.
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1 comment:
I was an unwed 18-year old mother. That was 16 years ago and despite all the advice to the contrary, keeping her was the BEST decision.
At my 6-week post-natal check, the doctor would not allow me to leave his office until I chose a form of birth control that he could administer right there. I didn't know at the time that he was out of line so I chose Depo Prevera. It wrecked havoc on my body and, 16 years later, I am still suffering from the side effects. It took 13 years to conceive again.
Birth control is anything but freedom or a blessing. The female body was designed to have babies.
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