From the New York Times, I'm Natalie Ketroweff. This is The Daily.

Last week, for the first time in U.S. history, federal regulators approved the sale of a birth

control pill without a prescription. Today, my colleague Pam Belek on why, after decades

of brutal battles over contraception, this decision played out so differently.

It's Wednesday, July 19.

So, Pam, when I saw this news story pop up that the birth control pill had been approved

to be sold over the counter for the first time, I imagine that there was some sort of story

of a bruising battle between reproductive rights groups and social conservatives who have

typically been opposed to things like abortion and contraception.

But then we called you and you said, nope, this was actually a very uncontentious fight that just played out.

So, I am surprised and confused. Help me.

Yeah, you know, it was really striking to me too that when this thing kind of got to the point

of a decision being made, there was overwhelming support and even pressure from many people

to get this approved and the conservative voices that are typically against this were very quiet.

And given how controversial and how much of a flashpoint contraception has been over the decades,

this was a really interesting moment. It was really notable that in this case,

you didn't have a lot of strong voices opposing it.

So, Pam, what is the beginning of this story? How do we get here?

So, the birth control pill was developed mostly in the 1950s and it was approved first by the FDA in 1960.

They come in big bottles for a year's supply, smaller bottles for a month's supply and handy calendar packs.

It was absolutely groundbreaking for women and for reproductive health.

How was that condition?

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