Reaction Paper On Birth Control

Today, the availability of birth control is taken for granted. There was a time, not long passed, during which the subject was illegal (“Margaret Sanger,” 2013, p.1). That did not stop the resilient leader of the birth control movement. Margaret Sanger was a nurse and women’s activist. While working as a nurse, Sanger treated many women who had suffered from unsafe abortions or tried to self-induce abortion (p.1). Seeing this devastation and noting that it was mainly low income women suffering from these problems, she was inspired to dedicate her life to educating women on family planning—even though the discussion of which was highly illegal at the time (p.1). She was often in trouble with

To begin, Crystal Eastman first published her article in 1918. She produced the source for a large target audience. The article was originally published in a radical journal called Birth Control review. The source’s purpose was to inform women that, whether the law stated so or not, they had a choice as to whether or not to conceive a child. The purpose of the source is to demand that women take control of their bodies. “I would almost say, that the whole structure of the feminist’s dream of society rests upon the rapid extension of scientific knowledge about birth control.” (Eastman, Pg.510).

Carl Djerassi was a chemist in Mexico city that created the first pill that synthesized hormones in 1951. In 1957 the FDA approved the pills for women with menstrual disorders but just three years later the pill was released for sexual protection. Some states still made this drug illegal and it went against many people’s morals. In 1997 the pill was expanded to treat acne (A Brief History 1-2). The pill has come a long way and is still continuing to form in this evolving society. Less than seventy years ago we didn’t even have an oral option for birth control. Today we are fighting over whether the pill can be available over the counter or not.

One of the most significant happenings that the Birth Control Movement was responsible for was the creation of the birth control pill. In 1948, Margaret Sanger, biologist Gregory Pincus and physician John Rock began to research and develop the birth control pill. It got approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1960 (Kaufman). This oral contraception is a type of medication that women take daily to prevent pregnancy because these pills contain hormone that prevent a woman’s eggs from leaving the ovaries and making cervical mucus thicker which keeps the sperm from getting to the eggs (Planned Parenthood). Plannedparenthood.org stated that within five years of its approval, the birth control pill was used by one out of every married women

Healthcare professionals are faced with a multitude of ethical and legal conundrums. Since the introduction of birth control in American history, healthcare professionals have been put in situations to either follow their own moral and ethical beliefs, or choose to follow the law and give healthcare services to those who seek it. A large constituent to the disapproval of contraceptives other than natural family planning, is health professional’s religious beliefs. In addition, Adolescent females who need contraceptives are less likely to seek access to health care providers for these contraceptives in fear of personal information due to their age being released. Through the research provided, cases of pharmacist denial of prescribed or over the counter contraceptives to women have been the majority of conflict in this nation and in others.

Birth control is the practice of preventing unwanted pregnancies, especially by use of contraception. It also can be define as control of children or offspring born especially by preventing the frequency of conception. As there are many type of birth control method including hormonal method, barrier method, intrauterine device, natural method and emergency contraception. For hormonal birth control method is split into two types. The first one is combined contraceptive pills that contain two hormone (estrogen and progestin ) to prevent the pregnancy happening. As the function for combined contraceptive pills is to stop the ovum release and make the mucous of cervix become thick so it can stop the movement of sperm cells. The advantages for

The Birth Control Movement of 1912 in the United States had a significant impact on Women’s Reproductive Rights. Women in the 1800s would frequently die or have complications during or after childbirth. Even if the woman would have died, they would still have a great amount of children. As the years progressed into the 1900s, the amount of children being born dropped. Because of this, birth control supplements were banned, forcing women to have a child that she was not prepared for or did not want to have in the first place.

In the 1950s, birth control pills were introduced in the United States (Windsor, 2002). Over the past seven decades, the pill has changed the American women’s lives in several ways. The pills have allowed women to delay marriages, invest in their career development, and secure well-paid jobs in areas that were previously dominated by men. The pill has also improved family relationships and prevented abuse and marriage dissolutions. This paper explores the history of birth control methods in the US and how the pill became available on a large scale to women. The paper further examines how the pills has given women the freedom to advance their careers, strengthen the marriage relationships, and participate in the workforce.

Although societies with rigorous rules such as the ancient Greeks practiced the use of birth control and the invention of modern contraceptive methods---such as condoms, diaphragms, and douches---have been around since the early 1800’s, birth control still did not prevail in the twentieth century and was highly controversial. Margaret Sanger gave people a new and radical ideology stating how birth control helped women in many more ways than their sexuality. Sanger published many literature pieces about her opinions on options and freedom for women in society. Several other women and doctors acknowledged her argument by broadcasting it during the Progressive Era. When the 1920’s came around,

Sanger was a demonstrative and powerful voice for women during the late 1800s, and advocated their right to their own bodies and their own pregnancies. Because she believed in women's right to control their reproductive health, she pushed for accessible birth control when it was not openly spoken about or even conceptualized. Sanger created the first legal birth control clinic in the United States: the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau in 1923 and later had a hand in creating the first oral birth control pill (“Margaret Sanger”). Even though these companies and medications were established none of the progress was not without legal threat. Sanger’s mission was one that shook the laws that were already in place at the time. Before Planned Parenthood could even be conceptualized there had to be tremendous push-back and a movement towards a bright future on the part of women. Sanger is responsible for the brunt of the progress made in the women's rights movement at the time and without her Planned Parenthood would likely not become one of the largest providers of women's health in the United States

Before the introduction of modern birth control, gender roles emphasized the responsibility of women to conceive and raise children. Although this began to change in the in the mid-twentieth century, with the introduction of the first hormonal birth control pill, Enovid, taking place in 1960, it was not readily accessible during that time period (Buttar and Seward, 2009, p. 1-3). This did not change during the time period immediately following the introduction either; five years after the introduction of Enovid, there was still controversy surrounding the use of contraceptives. In the Supreme Court case of Griswold v. Connecticut, the legality of birth control on the market was debated, and the case concluded with the allowance of hormonal contraceptives, but it was limited to married couples only under the right of marital privacy (George and Lewis, 2016, p. 1). The controversy and secrecy that surrounded the use of birth control shortly after its introduction indicates that although it was certainly present and used in society during this time period, it still carried the negative social connotations of the past, which prevented it from being socially normalized. In contrast, the standardization of birth control in society took place decades later, from approximately the 1990 to 2010s.

Women in today’s society have never known a time when contraceptive options were not available to them. As a general statement, acquiring some sort of contraceptives whether it is the pill, patch, condom, emergency contraception, or another of the many types of birth control is not difficult with the many options available to women today. However, backtrack to the early 1900’s and the story was completely different. In 1916, Margaret Sanger made contraceptive history by opening the first birth control clinic in Brooklyn, New York. The fight for birth control began. It was not until years later in 1960 that the birth control pill was approved by the Food and Drug Administration and since then many other varieties of birth control have made their way into the market (Kim & Wasik, 2011). Today, thanks to those like Margaret Sanger who fought for contraceptives, women and couples who wish to avoid pregnancy have more choices than ever before. (Egarter et al, 2013; Perry, 2015).

“Birth control will make parenthood a voluntary function instead of an accident as it is today. When motherhood and childhood is free, we can go hand in hand with man, to remake the world, for the glorification as well as the emancipation of the human race.” In the debate between Margaret Sanger and Winter Russell in 1920 the heated issue of birth control legalization was being argued. Sanger, an influential supporter of birth control and women’s rights, was the founder of the eventually named company Planned Parenthood. Her sole goal was to provide women with contraception and birth control pills in order to protect them from unwanted pregnancies. Russell, however, believed that women using such methods was both unchristian and selfish.

Birth control seems to be a fundamental part of people’s lives in this day and age. Some people simply do not want to have children until they feel the timing is right. Others, may never want to have children. It would seem logical to respect their choice and allow them the freedom to decide what is best for themselves. Yet, in the late 18th century the Comstock Act prevented the mailing of any type of contraceptives within the United States (PBS). One brave woman in particular was willing to stand up and challenge not only the Comstock Act but also the idea that contraceptive use is immoral. This woman is Margaret Sanger. Margaret Sanger took a stand for women’s rights by using her writing as a means of education, which challenged government regulations and eventually resulted in a shift in the overall acceptance of birth control.

With the Comstock Act lifted, Sanger was able to begin the process of creating “The Pill”. She partnered with her friend, Katherine Dexter McCormick, who was a wealthy woman. McCormick had graduated as biology major from Massachusetts and had the knowledge and money to help Sanger (Birth Control Pills, 1993). They also partnered with Gregory Pincus who was the head of Experimental Biology at a university. The team set out to find an oral pill that would prevent pregnancy. Even though not much was known about contraception at the time, it was known that the one time a woman was guaranteed not to get pregnant was when she was already pregnant. According to a book called “Birth Control Pills are Tested” in 1921, a physiologist named Ludwig Haberlandt performed an experiment in which he took the ovaries of an impregnated rabbit and transplanted them into a rabbit who wasn’t pregnant. The nonpregnant rabbit was then unable to become impregnated due to its inability to product ripe eggs proving that during pregnancy; the ovaries released some type of hormone preventing pregnancy. It was later discovered that this hormone was progesterone. Sanger had made a break through. If she could find a way to get this hormone into pill form it would prevent women from becoming pregnant. In 1951 this happened. A scientist by the name of Carl Djerassi uncovered a way to produce progesterone in the