High hormone levels in oral contraceptives caused discomfort and even death for some users. Barbara Seaman’s Doctor’s Case Against the Pill (1969) explains dangers of the Pill.
“Because the Pill consists of two powerful hormones, it is likely to have more side effects than other drugs. ...weight gain breast tenderness..blood-clotting mechanism...cause clot formation in a leg vein…signaled by painful cramp... A far greater hazard is that such a clot may be dislodged...cause pulmonary embolism—a frequently fatal condition…In some cases the Pill raises an unstable blood pressure so abruptly and severely as to cause a blow in a brain artery—the hemorrhagic type of stroke” -Time, 1970 |
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"...possibility that the drug might cause cancer or have a harmful effect on reproductive organs...no proof...physicians still have doubts". New York Times, Sep 7, 1969 |
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Doctor's Case Against the Pill, by Barbara Seaman |
“Why don’t you men take the contraceptive pills?...Stop making us—the women—guinea pigs in this experiment…Why don’t men mature and understand that there are desires in life besides excessive use of your love-stick”
-One angry mother writes to John Rock CLICK TO ENLARGE
"How Love with The Pill can cripple and kill" (New York Times; Nov. 18, 1969) |
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D.C. Feminists at Nelson Senate Hearing, 1970 |
“Never in history have so many individuals taken such potent drugs with so little information available as to actual and potential hazards. The synthetic chemicals in the Pill are quite unnatural...In using these agents, we are in face embarking on a massive endocrinologic experiment with millions of healthy women”.
-Gaylord Nelson, opening statement "Why are you using women as guinea pigs?"
"Why are you letting the drug companies murder us for their profit and convenience?" -D.C. Feminists |
""You are MURDERING us...We are not going to sit quietly! We don't think the hearings are more important than our lives!"
- D.C. Feminists Afterwards, 18% of women abandoned the Pill though some were indifferent:
“I don’t care if you promise me cancer in five years, I’m staying on the pill. At lease I’ll enjoy the five years I have left. For the first time in eighteen years of married life I can put my feet up for an hour and read a magazine”
- anonymous woman |
D.C. Feminists' anger during the trials
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The Nelson hearings encouraged women to speak out on the Pill. Likewise, a women's health movement started in 1970, followed by publication of Our Bodies, Ourselves, a women's health collective. Increased awareness to patient’s right made “informed decisions” the cornerstone of American medicine.
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Writers of Our Bodies, Our Selves |
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Our Bodies, Our Selves by the Boston Women's Health Collective, 1971 (Source: Our Bodies, Our Selves website) |
"...'walk in pregnant with the husband and here are my demands'...and it used to upset the hell out of me"
Dr. Richard Hauskenecht speaking on new medical rights for women |
“Rise up, as women and demand our human rights…medical profession must meet our needs. We will no longer tolerate intimidation by white-coated gods, antiseptically direction our lives." - D.C. Women’s Liberation “I DEMAND—that as a woman, having the option to take the pill or not, I have all facts in front of me!” -Letter to the FDA In 1970, informational inserts were required by the FDA. |