Welcome to Natural MD Radio, your place to hear the whole truth on health and medicine for women and children and get the tools you need to take back your health naturally starting now. I'm Dr. Aviva Rong. The pill or the birth control pill or oral contraceptive pill has been around since

about 1960 and with a 91% effectiveness rate when taken correctly

there's no doubt that it was a major hard-won breakthrough for women.

For the first time in history we were in control of our reproduction

which helped us find safety from dangerous birth conditions at the time,

gave us more autonomy and relationships, and provided us the ability to work rather than by limited by

pregnancies that women may not have been ready for or wanted.

Forget the maternity leave debate.

Back then, there was no debate.

Married or not, you had to quit your job

when you got pregnant or hide it until you couldn't hide it anymore.

I don't know if you realize this, but it wasn't even that long ago just in the early part of the last century

that it was illegal to send any contraceptive information through the US mail. I'm not talking about sending birth control pills or

contraceptive devices. I'm talking about pamphlets, leaflets, flyers, or

medical information about contraception. And it was illegal to the point of being

punishable by going to prison which actually did happen to women like

Emma Goldman and other advocates of women's access to contraception and health information.

So on the one hand, I'm a dyed in the wool, or as you might even say more accurately,

died in the womb, feminist, and that my mom was the first one in her college to wear slacks to

her college campus. I'm loath to criticize what has become a mainstay in women's ability to

control when we do and don't get pregnant,

especially during a time when our reproductive rights are being threatened.

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