A timeline of birth control in the United States.

Reproductive history and women’s healthcare is an academic passion of mine. Birth control and abortion are hinge points of modern dialogue about reproductive healthcare, and autonomy for women and people with uteruses. Understanding the complicated history of the birth control pill can help us recognize why it remains important to people and healthcare providers today.

The pill wasn’t initially designed as a contraceptive. It was created to relieve severe menstruation issues, and women were, in fact, warned against the pill’s contraceptive effect. But because women and families have always wanted control over whether and when they got pregnant, the desire for the pill as a contraceptive eclipsed its initial purpose. The pill was steeped in controversy before, during and long after its invention.

To get a sense of the pill’s development time and scope, I put together a brief timeline detailing its history. Click on the image below for a link to the project!