The Pill Turns 50

This year The Pill has its 50^th birthday. For some, that's cause for celebration. For others, regret. For still others, complaints over the societal changes it may have played a part in.

The chemist whose discovery allowed the creation of this tiny but powerful social tool has some regrets. Austrian Carl Djerassi was one of three researchers who's work resulted in the development of the first oral contraceptive pill believes it has done social damage. He has expressed concern with Austria's dramatic decline in birth rates (something happening all over Europe) and the complete separation of sexuality from reproduction.¹

Of course, some consider those very things laudable. Most feminists are quite happy that sex has been disconnected from reproduction in Western society. Many environmentalists believe that one of the primary and most important ways to "save the earth" is for Earth's population growth to stop completely, or even reverse.² If the goal is freedom (or perceived freedom, unintended pregnancies still abound) from childbearing for women, and reduced birth rates, The Pill has certainly given humanity the opportunity to make giant leaps in that direction. The acceptance, distribution, and increased use of oral contraception remains a primary issue for both feminists and those concerned with the environment.

On the other side of the issue, many like Carl Djerassi bemoan these very effects as having a destructive effect on society. Not everybody is convinced that overpopulation is the problem some make it out to be. Some consider new generations to be our own best resource, and thus the declining populations in some nations to be a big problem. Those to whom sacramental marriage and "traditional" values hold great importance find that the effects of the Pill have been to crack and crumble the foundations of the social values they hold dear. Some feel that tidy, sterile methods of contraception led to a sea-change in social views about children, not only normalizing and idealizing the small family, but paving a path to acceptance of abortion as well. For those who believe life begins at conception, the possibility of a secondary action of hormonal contraceptives to make the womb inhospitable to newly conceived humanity puts it morally on the same level as an early abortion.³

Leaving aside politics and religion, the Pill has had some measurable impacts in other ways. Hormonal contraception (along with growth hormones and antibiotics) is now a measurable contributor to the pollution of water supply and has been observed to effect local ecological systems where such pollution is common. ⁴

It seems undeniable that The Pill played a part in monumental social changes. Whether it caused these changes, or was just concurrent with them, is more difficult to discern. Furthermore, whether these changes deserve praise or criticism depends almost wholly on each individual's world view. It seems highly unlikely that society will ever regress to pre-Pill contraceptive technology or shift its values again towards higher rates of reproduction. Again, whether that's a positive or negative reality remains a matter of opinion.

¹Birth Control Inventor Laments Demographic Changes , Catholic News Agency
²http://www.overpopulation.org/

³Birth Control Pill, Shanna Freeman, How Stuff Works/Health

⁴Endocrine Disruptions in our Drinking Water: Should we be concerned?, Nancy J. Schmitt, Yale