The Birth Control Pill

There was a study done in September of 2016, where researchers were trying to gather information about the use age of any method of contraception, and the birth control pill. The pill and female sterilization have been the two most commonly used methods since 1982. Dating all the way back to the 1870’s, and more recently, the 1950’s, there have been many controversies over the birth control pill. Many religious people all over the United States sought to believe the birth control pill was a form of abortion, which has always been looked down upon. But there are also millions of women who take the pill, that argue they take it simply because it helps to eliminate and control symptoms of their monthly cycle. That being said, the use age of the birth control pill in America, should not be looked at as a form of abortion. The idea of the birth control pill was introduced in the early 1870’s. The Comstock Act, which was a federal enactment passed by the U.S. Congress in 1873 as an “Act of the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use.” The act was named after Anthony Comstock, because he thought that any information, devices, or medication obtained for “unlawful abortion or contraception”, was seen as obscene. The act also banned the distribution of that information through the mail, and from being imported from abroad. People who violated the Comstock Act, could receive up to five years of imprisonment with hard labor and a fine of up to $2,000. It wasn’t until 1950, that a woman named Margaret Sanger who came up with the research to actually create the pill. In 1960, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first pill, called Enovid, as a form of contraception. The Supreme Court allowed married couples the right to use birth control, ruling that it was protected in the Constitution as a right to privacy. However, millions of unmarried women in 26 states were still denied birth control. During this time period, most women who were sexually active, were users of the birth control pill. Except, there were one group of people who did not use it. Roman Catholics didn’t take the pill because they believed that it was a form of abortion and a way to escape from the birth of a child. When the pill was invented and began being widely used, it brought up many arguable points for people all over the United States, along with people who thought it shouldn’t be taken at all. The pill became a symbol of women's rights and generational change — and, for a time, the focus of a debate over whether it led to declining morals. Women who took it argued that it was a nice freedom that they didn’t have to worry about becoming …show more content…
They also believed that the reason people shouldn’t take the pill is because it was “God’s Plan” for them to become pregnant and the fact that they were taking the pill meant that they were trying to stop the plan that God wanted for them. The Catholic Church had many objections to the pill. With the creation of the pill, the Church’s had to rethink their ideas when it came to the birth control pill. Men and women of the church began putting their personal and family needs before the needs of the church. The church feared the idea of contraceptives and birth control pills. Between 1960 and 1965 the number of people that belonged to the Catholic Church, practicing unapproved methods of birth control increased from 38% to 51%, basically due to the availability of the …show more content…
But with the research I’ve conducted, I’ve shown how birth control should not be seen as a form of abortion, like religious people in history saw it as. But, women today see it as very beneficial. Without the uprising of the idea of the birth control pill in 1873, and the actual creation of it in the 1950’s, people would still have different opinions. All in all, the use of the birth control pill in the United States of America should not be seen as a problem, it should be seen as an advantage for