Birth Control: A History
It is probably difficult to imagine life for men and women before the appearance of birth control pills such as Yasmin. In fact, this small pill has completely revolutionized sex. For example, before birth control pills were available, men had to withdraw or women had to rely on crude abortion methods. However, in as early as 3000 BC, the first condoms were constructed from materials, including animal intestines, linen sheaths and the bladders of fish.
In 1500 BC, spermicides were created; they involved linen cloth sheath condoms that were soaked in chemicals and then dried. The American Comstock Act forbid any advertisements, distribution or information about birth control in 1873, and it even permitted the US postal service to confiscate any birth control material that was sold via the mail.
However, a woman named Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic within the United States in 1916. She was subsequently jailed for 30 days, but upon her release, she reopened her clinic, despite suffering further prosecutions and arrests.
A judge removed the federal birth control pan in 1938, at which point diaphragms were a very popular choice for birth control. In 1950, the birth control pill was introduced on the market. Sanger wrote the research to create this first pill when she was in her eighties. Consequently, Enovid, created by Frank Colton, was the first oral contraceptive to be marketed in the United States. Later in the 1960s, the United States manufactured and sold IUDs.
However, feminists later argued that the oral contraceptives available at the time were unsafe and caused serious health risks. This resulted in changes to the birth control pill. Therefore, hormonal birth control options included injectables, low-dose pills such as Yasmin and implants in the 1980s and 90s.
Fortunately, women today have many choices when it comes to birth control. Reliable contraception methods currently include transcervical female sterilization, vaginal rings, new types of injectables, hormonal patches and single rod implants.