Five things to know about the birth control pill in the US, 60 years after it was FDA approved
First oral contraceptive later became accessible to all US women in 1972
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Your support makes all the difference.It has been 60 years since the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first birth control pill, marking a historic victory in women’s health and reproductive rights.
However, access to the pill, as well as information about birth control, wasn’t accessible until years later as the country struggled to move beyond outdated indecency laws.
In the decades since, the oral contraceptive has become one of the most popular forms of birth control in the US, and in other countries.
From its origin to its accessibility now, these are five interesting things to know about the birth control pill.
The FDA approved Enovid-10, the first birth control pill, on 9 May 1960
The contraceptive was based partly on research conducted by women’s advocate and nurse Margaret Sanger in the 1950s.
The pill, which the birth control method later became known as, was first officially available to women on 23 June.
In the first year, 400,000 women saw their doctors about getting a prescription for the pill
Three years later, in 1963, the number of women requesting a prescription for the pill rose to 2.3m women.
The pill wasn’t legal for all women until 1972
Despite receiving FDA approval, it wasn’t until 1965 that married couples were given the right to use the pill in the US, according to Forbes.
In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled that everybody had legal access to the pill, irrespective of marital status.
In the US today, nine out of 10 women use contraception at some point in their lives
In 2015 to 2017, 64.9 per cent of the 72.2 million women aged 15 to 49 in the United States were currently using contraception, according to the CDC.
Oral contraception was one of the most popular forms of birth control, accounting for 12.6 per cent.
The pill is not always free in the US
Depending on your insurance, oral contraceptives can cost anywhere from $0 to $50 a month, according to Planned Parenthood.
According to the American Pregnancy Association, women may pay between $20 and $800 annually, depending on medical coverage and pill costs.
There is currently no contraceptive pill for males
In March 2019, a new birth control pill for men passed preliminary testing and “produced hormone responses consistent with effective birth control in 30 men, according to research presented by the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute and the University of Washington at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting,” Time reported.
However, the drug has not yet been submitted for review by the FDA and it is expected it will be several years before the pill is available.
Currently, the only effective form of male birth control is condoms.
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