“The pill has literally changed the world, and it was a primary stimulus to the women’s movement of the 60s. It has done far more for women’s rights than any legislation that has been passed and should be recognized as the great emancipator of women.”

Mark S. DeFrancesco, MD, MBA, Cheshire, CT
Secretary Elect, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

“When the pill first came out, young unmarried women had to fight for the right to take it. Now, they have to fight for the right NOT to take it. Overhyped as medicine’s gift to women’s health, by mostly male gynecologists who have never taken the drug, the pill has become an almost forced right of passage – the “standard of care” treatment for being a girl. Emancipation or subjugation? Ask the young women who face coercion and control by their doctors when they ask for support to use non-hormonal methods of birth control.”

Laura Wershler, Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights Advocate,
Executive Director, Sexual Health Access Alberta

“Birth control pills provide women with many non-contraceptive benefits, including cycle control, cancer prevention, and pain relief. They have been an integral part of women’s health.”

Scott D. Hayword, MD
Mt. Kisco, NY
Chair, District II, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

“Birth control pills provide women with many risks in exchange for contraception, including blood clots, stroke, breast, cervical, and liver cancers, diminished libido, and mood disorders. They have been instrumental in activating the women’s health movement, as feminists
demanded responses to these risks.”

Elizabeth Kissling, Ph.D.
President, Society for Menstrual Cycle Research

“I have often thought that the birth control pill should be called a hormone regulation pill because its use and impact have been so much broader than contraception alone. The pill has certainly improved reproductive control, but the impact on menstrual regulation has been very important for women, from adolescence to menopause.”

Jeanne A. Conry, MD, PhD
Roseville, CA
Chair, District IX, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

“I’m so happy to have The Pill called “a hormone regulation pill” because that is the way it is currently used by many physicians, and some women. It is used to cover up the far-apart cycles of anovulatory androgen excess (also known as PCOS) but doesn’t promote ovulation. The Pill is used to treat heavy bleeding in teenagers, but doesn’t restore her own balance of estrogen and progesterone. It is used for menstrual cramps when ibuprofen or other non-steroidal is more effective and has no suppressive effect. It is used to treat premenopausal osteoporosis when the evidence suggests it causes rather than prevents subsequent fragility fractures.

In short–the Pill has become the major non-surgical tool of gynecology.”

Jerilynn C. Prior, MD, FRCPC
Professor of Endocrinology / Department of Medicine
Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research
University of British Columbia

“The introduction and rapidly accepted, widespread adoption of oral contraceptives among women of reproductive age drastically reduced women’s fear of unplanned pregnancy in ways their mothers and grandmothers never knew. The pill has allowed women to take different roles in all aspects of their lives—career, education, travel, and a host of other beneficial ways.”

J. Craig Strafford, MD, MPH,
Gallipolis, OH
Vice President, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

“Women realize their full potential when they are supported in making informed decisions in all aspects of their lives. Indeed, oral contraception has enabled women to avoid unplanned pregnancies, but it has never been a risk-free option. While providers are eager to prescribe the pill, they are less eager to fully explain how hormonal contraception works and the side effects it carries. Until women have access to a full range of safe, affordable and accessible options, their freedom is compromised.”

Chris Bobel, Ph.D.
Chair and Associate Professor of Women’s Studies, University of Massachusetts-Boston

“The pill has revolutionized women’s health care. Obviously, the contraceptive benefits are paramount, but I have become a huge advocate for all of the non-contraceptive reproductive health benefits that the pill offers. Another advantage is that the pill has enjoyed incredible safety over its 50-year history.”

Douglas H. Kirkpatrick, MD, Denver, CO
Immediate Past President, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

“The Pill has its roots in a time much farther back than fifty years.
Historically the female body has been feared and the release of the
Pill fitted very easily into this history. Victorian doctors removed
women’s ovaries in response to many perceived female problems, and today doctors prescribe the Pill, shutting down ovulation. The Pill is not only prescribed for birth control – it is handed out to women with acne, PMS, irregular periods, heavy periods. Even light, regular periods are now considered enough of an inconvenience to warrant a long-term drug dependency. The Pill has developed into a medication for the disease of being female. In place of changing society, society decided to fix women. At a time when we are more concerned about what we eat, what we wear, what we use to clean the toilet than ever before, we are still celebrating millions of otherwise healthy women taking a powerful medication every day, for years.”

Holly Grigg-Spall, Journalist

“The advent of effective contraception was revolutionary, transforming, empowering, and a tremendous boost to women’s health. It continues to play a major role in the effort to achieve responsible reproductive health and choice for all women—a goal of every child being a wanted child delivered into a supportive and secure environment.”

James N. Martin, MD, Jackson, MS Secretary, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

“If the pill was as revolutionary, transforming and empowering as is suggested, then all women should be taking it from menarche to menopause, except when we are ready to have the “wanted child.” But we aren’t. Today, young women are ditching the pill in favor of non-hormonal methods, and still managing to achieve responsible reproductive health choices. As for the pill being “a tremendous boost to women’s health” – I think not. Troublesome side effects, serious health concerns, and a growing interest in holistic approaches to health care are putting the pill in its proper place. One contraceptive choice that works for some women, some of the time.”

Laura Wershler, Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights Advocate,
Executive Director, Sexual Health Access Alberta

“The pill is probably the single biggest contribution to women’s health in our lifetime. Not only has it given women more control over their fertility, it has been successfully used to treat many gynecologic conditions such as dysmenorrhea, menometrohaggia, PMS, acne, PCOS, and endometriosis, enabling women to have a better quality of life.”

James A. Macer, MD, Pasadena, CA

Assistant Secretary Elect, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

“Long term safety data on the current patterns of use of the pill do not exist, and are not being collected. When first approved, the pill was available to married women, most of whom had children, and allowed them to space their families. Currently, the pill is most commonly used by childless young women, often during the teen years, and can extend for decades. The consequences of pharmaceutical suppression of the developing endocrine system (during the 12 years following the first period) have, to my knowledge, not been explored. For example, taking the pill interferes with bone acquisition, compromises the accumulation of bone density, and may compromise peak bone mass. Peak bone mass sets the bar for lifelong bone health. In a cohort expected to live into their 80’s, casual and enthusiastic use of the pill may be something society regrets half a century from now. There is a tendency to blame side effects on the bad old days, and to say that things are better now. But a recent large study confirmed blood clot risks with today’s “modern” formulations, and, more worryingly, these risks are amplified by obesity and smoking, both of which are more prevalent in modern populations.”

Christine L Hitchcock, PhD, Research Associate, Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research, and Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia