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SEX IN THE 1960s: THE BIRTH-CONTROL PILL

Success in the Laboratory

The birth-control pill, developed in the 1950s, contains the female hormones estrogen and progesterone. Finding a cheap source of progesterone was an early stumbling block to development of the pill, until researchers found that the hormone could be extracted from Mexican yams. Once a pill was produced and found to be safe in lab animals, it was tested on a human volunteer population in Puerto Rico. Results were astounding. Pregnancy prevention reached a level of nearly 100 percent, and most failures were due to forgetfulness—patients had to take the pill regularly, or it did not work.

The Public Gets the Pill

In May 1960 the FDA approved distribution of the first oral contraceptive to the general population by prescription. The first pill, called Enovid, was marketed by the G. D. Searle Company of Chicago. It cost the consumer about ten dollars a month. The effects were reversible—fertility returned soon after women stopped taking the pill. The only common physical side effect was nausea.

Risks

Many conservative critics argued that the pill would promote casual sexual activity and thus undermine morality. These critics promoted unsubstantiated concerns that users of the pill risked breast and uterine cancer. One legitimate health risk was discovered: women over thirty-five who smoke and take the pill have in-creased odds for developing thromboembolic diseases, including strokes, heart attacks, and blood clots in vessels that travel to the lungs. That effect was lessened with the discovery that lower hormone doses are just as effective in contraception as the high doses in the early pills. By 1964 there were six brands of the pill available.