The brief and tumultuous history of the birth control pill

Publish date: 2024-08-04

2017-07-16T18:00:00Z

The birth control pill is only 57 years old this year.

It took more than 70 years from the time the founder of Planned Parenthood coined the term for what we now know as "the pill" to be approved and legal for all Americans to use.

Here is the history of major milestones in the fight for universal access to birth control — that happened much later than you might think:

In 1873, Puritan politician Anthony Comstock pushed for laws that made it illegal to distribute any forms of birth control or contraceptive information. Many of these Comstock Laws, as they came to be called, were still in effect through the late 1960s.

These types of anti-birth-control postcards were common during the Victorian period. Wikimedia Commons

Source: Case Western Reserve University

In 1914, Planned Parenthood pioneer Margaret Sanger termed the phrase "birth control" in her efforts to decriminalize access to contraceptives.

In this Oct. 1916 file picture, founder of the birth-control movement Margaret Sanger poses before leaving Brooklyn Court of Special Sessions after her arraignment in New York. Associated Press

Source: PBS

After fighting with American authorities for almost two decades, Sanger scored an early victory when, in 1938, a court lifted the official ban on birth control, allowing doctors to distribute it. The most popular types back then were diaphragms and condoms.

Women's rights activist Margaret Sanger, right, and Elise Ottesen-Jensen, Sweden's foremost exponent of Family Planning and Sex Education, talk at a meeting of the American Regional Committee of the International Planned Parenthood Federation in New York City. Associated Press

Source: New Republic

By the 1950s, biologists were working to develop an oral contraceptive pill. Despite Sanger's earlier victory, individual laws still made it illegal to purchase or distribute birth control in many states.

flickr/nateone

Source: Our Bodies, Our Selves Foundation

These laws would stay in place until 1965, when the Supreme Court granted married couples the right to use birth control. But for single people, it was still illegal.

Clinic director Donna Scofield stands at the door as patients arrive at the Family Planning Clinic in New Orleans, La., May 24, 1971. Associated Press

Source: Our Bodies, Our Selves Foundation

In 1960, the first oral contraceptive pill was approved by the FDA.

A woman holds a birth control pill dispenser indicating the day of the week in New York in August 1974. Jerry Mosey (Associated Press)

Source: FDA

In 1972, the Supreme Court finally made it legal for single people to access birth control.

Protesters gather in Saint Peter's Square in support of artificial birth control, as Pope Paul VI appeared in the central balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica to read his Easter message to the world on March 26, 1967. AP

Source: US Supreme Court

On Jan. 22, 1973, the Supreme Court struck down state laws that criminalized abortion in the pivotal Roe v. Wade decision.

Demonstrators hold signs and banners outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., March 10, 1986, as they wait for speeches by the organizers of the March for Women's Lives. Tom Reed (Associated Press)

Source: Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood launched the first nationwide sexual education program in 1979.

In this Oct. 8, 2015, file photo, Justin Pace reads along with classmates during a ninth-grade Teen Talk High School class at Carlmont High School in Belmont, Calif. Associated Press/Jeff Chiu

Source: Planned Parenthood

Between 1995 and 2010, a number of new birth control technologies entered the market. Emergency contraceptive became available when the FDA approved the "morning after" pill in 1999.

Pro-Choice America President Kate Michelson, from left, President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Gloria Feldt, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., rally for abortion rights rally on the Mall in Washington on April 25, 2004. Associated Press

Source: Planned Parenthood

In 2010, the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, made sure that birth control would be covered by any health insurance. It gave 55 million women access to birth control and other preventative services without a co-pay.

Planned Parenthood supporters rally for women's access to reproductive health care on "National Pink Out Day'' at Los Angeles City Hall on Sept. 9, 2015. AP Photo/Nick Ut

Sources: Reuters, HHS, NWLC

The birth control mandate saved women using pills an average of $255 per year, and those using IUDs $248 per year. Added up, Obamacare has saved women $1.4 billion on birth control since it took effect in 2011.

Margot Riphagen of New Orleans, La., wears a birth control pills costume during a protest in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

Source: Planned Parenthood

Some of the Republican plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would do away with the birth control mandate, forcing millions of women to pay for birth control again. Those measures are currently tied up in Congress.

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Sources: Reuters, Business Insider

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The brief and tumultuous history of the birth control pill

In 1873, Puritan politician Anthony Comstock pushed for laws that made it illegal to distribute any forms of birth control or contraceptive information. Many of these Comstock Laws, as they came to be called, were still in effect through the late 1960s.

In 1914, Planned Parenthood pioneer Margaret Sanger termed the phrase "birth control" in her efforts to decriminalize access to contraceptives.

After fighting with American authorities for almost two decades, Sanger scored an early victory when, in 1938, a court lifted the official ban on birth control, allowing doctors to distribute it. The most popular types back then were diaphragms and condoms.

By the 1950s, biologists were working to develop an oral contraceptive pill. Despite Sanger's earlier victory, individual laws still made it illegal to purchase or distribute birth control in many states.

These laws would stay in place until 1965, when the Supreme Court granted married couples the right to use birth control. But for single people, it was still illegal.

In 1960, the first oral contraceptive pill was approved by the FDA.

In 1972, the Supreme Court finally made it legal for single people to access birth control.

On Jan. 22, 1973, the Supreme Court struck down state laws that criminalized abortion in the pivotal Roe v. Wade decision.

Planned Parenthood launched the first nationwide sexual education program in 1979.

Between 1995 and 2010, a number of new birth control technologies entered the market. Emergency contraceptive became available when the FDA approved the "morning after" pill in 1999.

In 2010, the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, made sure that birth control would be covered by any health insurance. It gave 55 million women access to birth control and other preventative services without a co-pay.

The birth control mandate saved women using pills an average of $255 per year, and those using IUDs $248 per year. Added up, Obamacare has saved women $1.4 billion on birth control since it took effect in 2011.

Some of the Republican plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would do away with the birth control mandate, forcing millions of women to pay for birth control again. Those measures are currently tied up in Congress.