Contraception Politics

From UBC Wiki

Contraception politics involves the legislation and policies surrounding contraceptive methods and is within the frame of reproduction politics. The right to access contraceptive methods and information about contraceptive methods are issues of importance to the feminist movement. The introduction of the birth control pill coincided with the second-wave of feminism and is said to have sparked a sexual revolution, and a shift in the way people thought about sexuality. Since then, even more advancements in contraceptives have been made and developments in the legislation of contraceptive methods continue to progress and change.

History of Contraception Politics

Throughout history, women’s sexual lives have been under scrutiny and the watchful eye of society. Contraception and abortion were considered to be morally wrong, with this sentiment furthered by religious groups, namely Catholics. [1] Contraception was considered immoral by Catholics because it interferes with the creation of life, members of the Catholic church also considered it to promote promiscuity. Since the church perceives children to be a gift from God, a desire to control ones fertility was viewed as deviant (marriage out of wed-lock, adultery, prostitution). [2] As such, women had no control over the number and timing of their pregnancies.

Early Birth Control Movement

In the late 19th century, conservative Victorian attitudes towards sexual intercourse began to change. Although it was still perceived by many that sex was only for the purpose of reproduction, attitudes towards contraception began changing as women found it less practical to birth many children, as well as finding abstinence to be ineffective. Originally, access to contraception was limited only to upper class women, as most available methods were quite expensive. [3] Women were limited by the Comstock Law, more specifically known as the “Act for the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use,” which was passed in 1873. The purpose of the law was to try and outlaw prostitution and other “obscene” sexual practices. It banned using, possessing or selling contraceptives, distributing information about contraceptives and it also banned any medication or any device that could be used for abortion. States had their own versions of the Comstock laws implemented as well. These laws were rarely publicly contested before the 1910s, as sexual topics were still incredibly taboo. [4] The modern birth control movement only began in the early 20th century, and pushed for contraception as a way to allow women to have control over their reproduction, and to make it easier for people to enjoy sexual intercourse for pleasure, without worrying about venereal diseases or pregnancy. There was a growing push for education on contraceptive methods, as well as a push for legalization and development of advanced methods. Women were suffering as a result of the Comstock laws, due to complicated and frequent childbirths, and women attempting to give themselves abortions.

Important Voices within the Movement

Two women who pioneered the birth control movement were Margaret Sanger and Dr. Marie Stopes. Sanger’s birth control activism was born from witnessing her own mother endure numerous childbirths and miscarriages which resulted in her health declining and which ultimately contributed to her death. As a nurse, Sanger was fed up; having witnessed and cared for many women who suffered botched abortions because of the inaccessibility of oral contraceptives. Sanger was known for being an outspoken activist and for challenging the Comstock laws in order to make contraception, and information regarding contraceptives, legal and available to all women. She believed that birth control was essential in the fight to give women complete power over their bodies. She opened up the first birth control clinic in the US in 1916, and was arrested for it, along with being arrested for sending contraceptives through the mail. She appealed her later conviction, which lead to the New York Court of Appeals allowing doctors to issue prescriptions for contraception, and this ruling in turn lead to a hike in interest and support for the movement. This ruling opened doors for other states to do the same. Sanger is also known as the mother of Planned Parenthood, as her organization, the American Birth Control League, eventually became part of what is now called Planned Parenthood, the largest reproductive health organization in the United States. [5] [6]

PlannedParenthood.gif

Dr. Marie Stopes was a celebrated British paleobotanist and an important voice in the birth control movement.[7] Her interest in the movement began after first marriage fell apart and ended in an annulment. Her troubled marriage led to her writing Married Love (1918), a controversial and influential book for women about marriage and sex. It was a manual on how to enjoy a healthy, sexual relationship inside a marriage. It was difficult for her to find a publisher, as the subject of her book was considered obscene at the time. She followed that book up with Wise Parenthood, a book about birth control. Following Wise Parenthood, Stopes focused on the birth control movement and eventually opened up Britain’s first birth control clinic with her second husband. Stopes’ clinic provided services and birth control for women who were married, and she did so for free which made it accessible to poor women. She also distributed contraceptives through the mail and pamphlets with information to further knowledge and further the cause. Her legacy is Marie Stopes International, an international non governmental organization that lobbies for reproductive rights and offers numerous reproductive health services across the globe. [8]

Another woman worth mentioning is Katharine McCormick, a high profile women's rights activist who also contributed to the creation of the pill, as she funded most of the research with her family fortune. The research and experiments done to create and establish the safety of the pill would not have been possible without the proper funding. Together, Sanger, Stopes, and McCormick were women who all helped in the promotion of the contraceptive mentality - the belief in the right of a woman to control her own fertility. [9] Without their work and activism, women may not have been able to gain control over their pregnancies in a safe and efficacious manner.

Birth Control Movement - Pre-Pill

Though Sanger and Stopes paved the way for wider acceptance of birth control, their movement was still met with resistance by many. Laws that outlawed contraception were still intact, and groups, such as the Catholic Church, were pushing to put a stop to the movement. Changes in contraception laws did not come about until the 1930s, and most of these changes were in the form of court decisions. [10]

The Pill Era

Contraceptive Legal Status

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Although some changes did occur in the legal status and availability of contraception during the pre-War period, the Comstock laws still did exist, although their enforcement was dwindling. The most important changes in contraception laws came about in the Cold War era. These changes came about through a group of legal decisions in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1965, in the landmark case Griswold v. Connecticut, the US Supreme Court ruled that a Connecticut law that banned contraception was a violation of marital privacy, and was thus unconstitutional. [11] This meant that any state law prohibiting a married couple from using contraception was deemed unconstitutional, allowing married couples the freedom to use contraception legally. In 1972, there was yet another major court victory in the fight for contraception rights. William Baird, a reproductive rights activist, was jailed and charged after getting caught handing contraceptives to a woman in Massachusetts. His case eventually ended up in the Supreme Court, where it was ruled 6-1 that the discrimination of the law only allowing married couples contraception was irrational under the 14th Amendment of Equal Protection, and thus the Griswold decision was extended to include unmarried persons. [12] This finally meant that all Americans were able to use contraception legally, regardless of marital status. The Comstock laws were essentially overturned. These cases were important in the fight for reproductive rights, as they were both cited in the landmark case Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion in the first trimester. Throughout the battle for reproductive rights, legislators have been continually avoiding dealing head on with "issues involving moral polarization" such as contraception and abortion, leaving change to be reached only through courts.[13] Changes in law that come via court decisions leave legislators' hands clean of picking sides on the touchy topic, and limit public outcry.

Development of the Pill

Until the Post-War era, women's knowledge of contraception, and their options on contraceptives were limited. Women often used methods that were ineffective and unsafe. Most had used douches and diaphragms, and some used homemade elixirs that were supposed to prevent pregnancy, and induce miscarriages in the case of an unwanted pregnancy. Companies sold contraceptives but labeled them as feminine hygiene products as contraceptives were still outlawed at the time. Many of the methods were either complicated, messy or impossible to keep hidden or private. [14] While the birth control movement was gaining momentum in in the mid 20th century, scientists were learning more and more about the female reproductive system and female hormones. They were studying and testing sex steroids on ovulation for the purpose of developing drugs to enhance fertility. [15] Some scientists, such as Gregory Pincus, teamed up with leaders of the birth control movement to try and develop an oral contraceptive pill. In the 1930s, scientists came to understand that high doses of the hormone progesterone could stop ovulation. This discovery lead to the development of the modern oral contraceptive pill. The FDA approved the first pill, Enovid, in 1961. The pill was initially only available to married women, but after the ruling in Eisenstadt v. Baird, all women were able to access the pill. [16] This was an incredibly important development in reproductive rights, as now women were legally able to control their reproduction through the means of a simple little pill. Women could now be controlling their reproduction privately, and in an uncomplicated fashion. The introduction of the oral contraceptive changed the landscape of not only female sexuality, but sexuality of the American society as a whole. The introduction of the oral contraceptive coincided with the second wave of feminism in the 1960s. It fuelled the sexual revolution. [17]

The Pill and Second-Wave Feminism

Although the suffragette and first-wave feminist movements occurred around the same time as the birth control movement, groups involved with the broader feminist movements tended to stay away from the controversy.[18] Birth control was too controversial, and they thought that staying away from such a topic would make it easier to further their movement. They feared that including birth control as a focus in their movements would come to divide their ranks, and threaten the progress they had already made.

Backlash Against the Pill

The birth control movement and the feminist movement truly merged after the introduction of the pill. The second wave of feminism was known for focusing the debate on issues such as sexuality, reproductive rights, workplace inequality, inequality in the home, divorce, and violence against women. Previously considered taboo topics, the emergence of these issues to the forefront made it easy for the birth control movement to merge and be a big part of the feminist movement as a whole. However, years after its public release, the birth control pill came under attack by feminists who were outraged by the potential health risks of the pill, which to this day include cancer, heart disease, stroke, and infertility [19]. Some feminists began to see the pill as yet another example of patriarchal control over the lives of women [20], despite its positive impact on many women's lives. Women started wondering why birth control had to be a female responsibility and if women's health interests were suffering as a result of men being in control of the medical industry. Though developments and enhancements were made to make the pill safer and the backlash eventually died down, with the pill becoming a more widely accepted form of birth control, contraception is still clearly a political issue.

Power of the Pill

In someways, the oral contraceptive revolutionized many different aspects of women's lives. For one, the fact that the pill could be taken at anytime and in a discrete fashion, allowed for a separation between the act of sexual intercourse and the contraception. [21] With the oral contraceptive pill's failure rate being extremely low, women could have sex without worrying about pregnancy, and this allowed for women to have more active sex lives. Since abortion was illegal at the beginning of the sexual revolution, contraception was a way for women to have control over when they would have children, and how many they would have. The pill was seen as a way for women to free themselves of the "age-old burden of pregnancy and motherhood". [22] Before the sexual revolution, most women were expected to be married at a young age, expected to put their careers aside to raise their children full time, while their husbands worked. Before the introduction of the oral contraceptive pill, the costs involved with a woman choosing a professional career were higher, with the woman having to either choose abstinence or risk having a pregnancy and derailing her career. [23] The introduction of the oral contraception changed women's decisions when it came to their careers, marriages and sex lives. The pill made it easier for women to delay marriage to focus on pursuing careers, which in turn lead to many young individuals, male and female, delaying marriage. Women no longer had to fear a dwindled marriage market upon entry after pursuing a career. [24]

New Developments in Contraception

The Intrauterine Device

Copper IUD

The pill gave way to a variety of birth control options for women, with new contraceptives being developed to suit the different lifestyles of women. Among them, the Intrauterine Device (IUD) is one of the most popular forms of long-lasting reversible contraception. It is small, usually in the shape of a T, and can be placed into the uterus to stop conception [25]. Of the two types of IUDS, the copper IUD, made of plastic and copper, prevents pregnancy by stoping egg fertilization and preventing implantation, with the copper destroying the sperm [26]. There are also hormone-releasing IUDS containing the progesterone hormone, which is continuously released into the lining of the uterus in order to thicken cervical mucus to stop sperm from fertilizing an egg. Both forms of the Intrauterine Device are approximately 99% effective upon insertion, and fertility is restored immediately upon removal, making it an ideal option for both women who have had children and women who have never been pregnant. [27]

Impact of the IUD

The IUD and other long-acting reversible contraception types are said to be more effective than any other form of birth control, including the pill, which can be rendered ineffective if a user forgets to ingest it even for one day [28]. With the oral contraceptive starting the revolution of women's lives, the creation and usage of long-acting reversible contraception further enhanced even more aspects of the lives of many different women, with the extremely high efficacy rate providing reassurance for women who do not want to get pregnant but still wish to enjoy sexual relations.The creation of the IUD not only improved the lives of single and married women alike, but also supported women's fight for control over their pregnancies, their bodies, and their own lives. It is convenient as it can be left in for 5-10 years depending on the type [29] - users do not have to worry about it once it's in place, making it a simple and ideal alternative for those who do not want to bother with taking a pill everyday. The IUD has also been argued to be a politically versatile technology [30] as its long term effects make it suitable for women in both developing and developed countries.

Emergency Contraception

Plan B

Along with contraception methods intended for use before or during sexual intercourse, a number of contraceptives that can be used to stop pregnancies after unprotected sex have also been developed over the last few decades. Mostly in the form of oral contraceptives that are to be swallowed, and often called the "morning-after pill," emergency contraception contains hormones that are released into the body to stop the fertilization of an egg. They can be taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sex, though the quicker they are taken, the better chance of pregnancy prevention [31]. Such emergency contraception is accessible and easy to use, as it is available behind-the-counter [32]. The most common form of emergency contraceptive used in the United States and Canada is Plan B [33], which is available on the shelves at most pharmacies. Though a feud over the accessibility of emergency contraception has been going on for quite some time, it was decided in June 2013 that Plan B would be available over-the-counter without any age or point-of-sale restrictions [34]. Access to it has further strengthened women's right to control the number and timing of their pregnancies, as the option of preventing pregnancy even after a woman has unprotected sex only became viable with the creation of emergency contraception like Plan B.

Contraception Politics Today

Since birth control was first created, the politics of contraception have been a religious battlefield, with conservative Christians arguing that contraception promotes abortion, which is thought of as morally wrong in many religions, since it is the only response women will choose if contraception fails them [35]. Although new forms of contraception are being created and developed and the usage of contraceptives is more widely accepted today, there are still people who do not believe in or approve of contraception under the argument that is morally wrong. To this day, the question of who gets to decide if pregnancy should be controlled remains unanswered, and is an ongoing topic of debate among feminists, women's health care activists, and religious advocates. However, it is undeniable that women have had increased access to a variety of contraceptive methods over the past years. As the ongoing development and improvement of different birth control options continues, women are gaining more and more control over their pregnancies and bodies.

References

  1. Burns, Gene. "The Moral Veto: Framing Contraception, Abortion, and Cultural Pluralism in the United States". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1. ISBN 9781280414855
  2. Gudorf, Christine E. (2003). "Contraception and Abortion in Roman Catholicism". In Macguire, Daniel C. Sacred Rights: The Case for Contraception and Abortion in World Religions. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 55-78. ISBN 9781280704086
  3. Reiss, Ira L (Feb 1982). "'Review of: 'The Mosher Survey: Sexual Attitudes of 45 Victorian Women' by Clelia Duel Mosher". Journal of Marriage and the Family 44 (1): 251-253.
  4. Burns, Gene. "The Moral Veto: Framing Contraception, Abortion, and Cultural Pluralism in the United States". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 30. ISBN 9781280414855
  5. The Pill: People & Events: Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/p_sanger.html
  6. Biography: Margaret Sanger http://www.biography.com/people/margaret-sanger-9471186#synopsis
  7. The Secret Life of Dr Marie Stopes http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11040319
  8. Marie Stopes International: What We Do http://mariestopes.org/what-we-do
  9. People & Events: Freedom for Women http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_lib.html
  10. Burns, Gene. (2005). "Moral Veto, The: Framing Contraception, Abortion, and Cultural Pluralism in the United States". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 4. ISBN 9781280414855
  11. Griswold v. Connecticut http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_griswold.html
  12. Eisenstadt v. Baird| The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1971/1971_70_17
  13. Burns, Gene. (2005). "Moral Veto, The: Framing Contraception, Abortion, and Cultural Pluralism in the United States". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 23. ISBN 9781280414855
  14. People & Events: Birth Control before the Pill http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_options.html
  15. Dhont, Marc (December 2010). "History of Oral Contraception". The European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care 15 (S2): S12-S18.
  16. Liao, Pamela Verma; Dollin, Janet (December 2012). "Half a century of the oral contraceptive pill". Canadian Family Physician 58 (12): e757-e760.
  17. Marks, Lara. (2010). Sexual Chemistry: A History of the Contraceptive Pill. Yale University Press. pp. 2.
  18. Burns, Gene. "The Moral Veto: Framing Contraception, Abortion, and Cultural Pluralism in the United States". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 30. ISBN 9781280414855
  19. Body Ecology: Dangers of the Birth Control Pill http://bodyecology.com/articles/dangers_birth_control_pill.php
  20. People & Events: Backlash Against the Pill http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_lib.html
  21. Marks, Lara. (2010). Sexual Chemistry: A History of the Contraceptive Pill. Yale University Press. pp. 4.
  22. Marks, Lara. (2010). Sexual Chemistry: A History of the Contraceptive Pill. Yale University Press. pp. 39.
  23. Goldin, Claudia; Katz, Lawrence F. (2002). "The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women’s Career and Marriage Decisions." Journal of Political Economy 110 (4). pp 731.
  24. Goldin, Claudia; Katz, Lawrence F. (2002). "The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women’s Career and Marriage Decisions." Journal of Political Economy 110 (4). pp 731.
  25. Contraception Guide: IUD http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/contraception-guide/Pages/iud-coil.aspx
  26. Options for Sexual Health: What is an IUD and how does it work? https://www.optionsforsexualhealth.org/birth-control-pregnancy/birth-control-options/iuds
  27. Options for Sexual Health: How effective is it? https://www.optionsforsexualhealth.org/birth-control-pregnancy/birth-control-options/iuds
  28. Winner, B., Peipert, J.F., Zhao, Q., Buckel, C., Madden, T., Allsworth, J.E., Secura, G.M. (2012). "Effectiveness of long-acting reversible contraception." N Engl J Med. 366:1998–2007.
  29. IUD: Safe, Effective, and Convenient http://www.tidewaterwomen.com/columns/womens-health/iud-safe-effective-convenient
  30. Takeshita, Chikako (2011). "Global Biopolitics of the IUD: How Science Constructs Contraceptive Users and Women's Bodies." MIT Press. pp 3
  31. Ellertson, Charlotte (1996). "History and Efficacy of Emergency Contraception: Beyond Coca-Cola." Family Planning Perspectives Volume 28, Number 2
  32. Alastair J.J. Wood, M.D., Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D., and Michael F. Greene, M.D. (2012). "The Politics of Emergency Contraception." N Engl J Med; 366:101-102
  33. Plan B http://www.planb.ca/index.html
  34. Contraception Journal: Thinking (Re)Productively - October 2013 http://www.arhp.org/publications-and-resources/contraception-journal/october-2013
  35. The Politics of Contraception https://sojo.net/magazine/november-2015-0/politics-contraception