It changed the world in this very fundamental way. It gave them this incredible shot at much greater equality. It changed all kinds of opportunities for women. Obviously, helped spark the sexual revolution, but it changed the way men and women get along. I think it is important to set your sights on things that have really made a difference.

Well, first of all, I am always looking to try something different and take some chances, and this was a bit of a stretch for me, but I also look for big subjects to write about. John Rock, the Catholic fertility specialist and physician who acted as the respectable public spokesperson for the pill once it was pitched to the media and the FDA. Gregory Pincus, the rogue scientist who developed the medication, and Dr. The Birth of the Pill tells the path of the first hormonal birth control pill through the stories of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, Katherine McCormack, a wealthy widow and women's rights supporter who financed the research, Dr. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to play Inspired, Eig began researching this ubiquitous yet mysterious medical breakthrough and discovered a story filled with sexism, medical coercion, deceit, and determination, all of which led to the creation of the most life-changing and cultural-changing drug modern society has ever seen.Įig tells why he wrote this particular story, why both Planned Parenthood and the Catholic Church actually stood in the way of the pill's creation, and how the anti-sex attitude of the '50s can still be seen today. 'I heard a sermon where the rabbi was talking about the birth control pill as the most important invention of the 20th century, and it really threw me for a loop,' Eig told.

It was for that reason that author Jonathan Eig decided to write The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution. More than 11 million people in the United States are currently using the birth control pill, yet almost no one seems aware of how that pill came to the market.

The birth of the pill by jonathan eig