Thread by @normalvaginas, SEXUAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK20/09: A Brief History Of... The PillTW: Racism, Ableism, [...]

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SEXUAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK

20/09: A Brief History Of... The Pill

TW: Racism, Ableism, Sexism

Photo credits: TIME, Flickr, BuzzFeed

The first human contraceptive pill - known today simply as ‘The Pill’ - was invented in 1951 by Austrian-Bulgarian-American, Carl Djerassi (1923 - 2015)

The first commercially-available contraceptive pill, however, was invented by American chemist Frank Colton (1923 - 2003). There are many versions of The Pill which exist nowadays, but the pioneering one was Colton’s. It was called Enovid.

Katharine Dexter-McCormick (1875 - 1967), a US suffragist and heir to the International Harvester fortune, threw all of her financial support behind the research & development of this new oral contraceptive. In total, she spent $18 million in today’s currency.

The Pill would NOT have been possible without South American WOC, in more ways than one. After studying ancient Aztec fertility rituals, it was found that Aztec women would often eat Barbasco root for contraception. Barbasco contains the hormone Progestin.

Progestin and Oestrogen were - and still are - are the most important components of The Pill. Everybody say thank you Aztec women!

The first clinical trials for Enovid (conducted in Puerto Rico) were rife with shoddy ethics and controversial conduct. Data protection and informed consent weren’t common practice back in the ‘50s, so none of the participants were asked to sign consent forms.

It started to become clear that Enovid was fatally flawed. Literally. The pioneering pill contained EXCESSIVELY more hormones than needed to prevent pregnancy. For comparison: today’s versions of The Pill are made with 50-150mg of Progestin. Enovid contained 100,000.

The side effects have pretty much remained a constant throughout The Pill’s development. Dizziness, nausea, headaches and low mood were common side effects of Enovid. But potentially fatal side effects like DVT, stroke and heart failure were also discovered during the trials.

One woman even *died* of Congestive Heart Failure during the Puerto Rican trials.

By the time the FDA approved Enovid in 1957, thousands of people had already begun taking it daily. By 1959, 500,000 people were taking The Pill worldwide to regulate their periods.

By 1965, 1 in 4 married people under 45 were taking Enovid as a means of contraception.

In 1961, the official figures on side-effects were published by the FDA. 1.3 out of every 100,000 users were at risk of developing fatal side effects. A minute number - but large enough for Norway and The Soviet Union to ban all consumption of Enovid in 1962.

Enovid - in it’s day - blazed a trail for reproductive rights. For the first time EVER, penetrative vaginal sex and sex for reproduction were mutually exclusive. Sex was becoming more of a pleasurable activity, rather than a clinical means of contraception!

But... we need to talk about the elephant in the room.

Enovid’s history is rooted in eugenics, as well as the exploitation of the Latinx community.

(Eugenics = selective breeding; babies being born with ‘desirable’ features to ‘desirable’ parents)

‘Desirability’ in Eugenics, means...

- White/Aryan
- Able-bodied
- Neurotypical/mentally healthy

Margaret Sanger (1879 - 1966), first coined the term ‘birth control’. She personally approved it’s use by ‘epileptics, paupers, illiterates and prostitutes’, among others.

Here’s another reason why Enovid was/is problematic!

In 2019, it was revealed by the NHS that the ‘7 day break’ - demonstrated by the sugar tablets - was totally unnecessary.

‘Breaks’ from The Pill aren’t healthier or any less healthy than taking The Pill constantly.

So... how did medical professionals get this SO wrong for SO long?

John Rock (1890 - 1984), one of the major developers of Enovid - and devout Roman Catholic - designed the ‘7 day break’ with The Pope in mind.

He believed that designing Enovid to imitate the natural menstrual cycle would please The Pope, and encourage him to accept oral contraception into the Catholic Church with open arms.