Happy Birthday, the Pill

Posted on May 8, 2010

Flickr / Amber B Mcn

Fifty years ago on Sunday, U.S. authorities announced the release a contraceptive device for women in the form of a swallowable tablet. The pill, as it has come to be known, has revolutionized sex, as well as given women control over their bodies when it comes to reproductive health.

Of course, women still do not have complete control over their bodies, as a number of states have passed laws restricting abortions. —JCL

The BBC:

It is 50 years since the pill was first approved as a contraceptive, finally divorcing sex from pregnancy. But half a century on, our relationship with the tablet credited with revolutionising women’s lives is not always an easy one.

On 9 May, 1960, the American authorities announced they would allow a hormonal pill previously used for gynaecological complaints to be prescribed as contraception. Over the next decade, a string of other Western countries from Australia to the UK would follow suit.

Science, changing social attitudes and even fears about overpopulation in communist states all conspired to make the pill possible.

Read more

More Below the Ad

New and Improved Comments

We are launching a major overhaul of our comments section.

In addition to more robust spam filtering and moderation, new features include the ability to rate other comments, sort how they are displayed and respond directly via e-mail or in a thread.

Unfortunately, commenters will lose their existing Truthdig identities. It's a pain, we know, but on the plus side you will now be able to log in with a plethora of options, including Google, Twitter, Facebook and Disqus accounts.

Before launching this system we spent months in discussion with our top commenters. We listened to the feedback and we hope you like what we've come up with.

Please direct any problems or concerns to us via our contact page.