Contraception

A Complex Issue

Historical Notes: “The Pill”
In 1953, at the request of Margaret Sanger, Gregory G. Pincus, an American biologist, started working on the development of an oral contraceptive. Taking advantage of earlier hormonal research by the chemists Carl Djerassi and Frank Colton, who worked for different pharmaceutical companies, he was able to produce a contraceptive pill. Together with John Rock, an obstetrician at Harvard, he then began human trials of the new pill first in Massachusetts, later in Puerto Rico. In 1960 the pill became generally available in the US.
Soon it turned out, however, that the hormonal doses in these first pills were much too high and that they had severe side effects. Subsequently, therefore, the dosage in newer pills was reduced further and further until the manufacturers arrived at the formulas used today that are safe for most women.

Carl Djerassi (b. 1923) Frank Colton (b. 1923) Gregory Pincus (1906-69) John Rock (1890-1984) Their combined research led to the development of the first contraceptive pill.

In spite - or because - of the increased sexual freedom the pill brought to women, the pill encountered enormous opposition from many quarters, most prominent among them the Catholic church. This greatly distressed John Rock, a devout Catholic who remained convinced to the end that the pill was a "natural" form of contraception completely in line with his religious belief.