Would you be shocked to learn that the history of birth control goes back thousands of years?

According to one source:

Around 3000 B.C. Condoms made from such materials as fish bladders, linen sheaths, and animal intestines.

Around 1500 First spermicides introduced which used condoms made from linen cloth sheaths and soaked in a chemical solution and dried before using.

1838 Condoms and diaphragms made from vulcanized rubber.

1873 The Comstock Act passed in the United States prohibiting advertisements, information, and distribution of birth control and allowing the postal service to confiscate birth control sold through the mail.

1916 Margaret Sanger opens first birth control clinic in the United States.  The next year she was deemed guilty of maintaining a public nuisance and sentenced to jail for 30 days. Once released, she re-opened her clinic and continued to persevere through more arrests and prosecutions.

1938 In a case involving Margaret Sanger, a judge lifted the federal ban on birth control, ending the Comstock era. Diaphragms, also known as womb veils, became a popular method of birth control.

1950 While in her 80s, Sanger underwrote the research necessary to create the first human birth control pill. She raised $150,000 for the project.

1960 The first oral contraceptive, Enovid, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as contraception.

1965 The Supreme Court (in Griswold v. Connecticut) gave married couples the right to use birth control, ruling that it was protected in the Constitution as a right to privacy. However, millions of unmarried women in 26 states were still denied birth control.

1968 FDA approved intrauterine devices (IUDs), bringing early versions like the Lippes Loop and Copper 7 to market.

1970 Feminists challenged the safety of oral contraceptives (the Pill) at well-publicized Congressional hearings. As a result, the formulation of the Pill was changed, and the package insert for prescription drugs came into being.

1972 The Supreme Court (in Baird v. Eisenstadt) legalized birth control for all citizens of this country, irrespective of marital status.

Ever since the approval and legalization of birth control pills, they have been surrounded with controversy. Many types of birth control pills have been protested against because they actually act as an abortifacient. They don’t stop a woman’s egg from being fertilized, rather they cause the uterus to reject the already fertilized egg, thus aborting the earliest stages of pregnancy.

Another controversy surrounding birth control pills is their supposedly link to an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Over the years, there have been studies that supported the claim of increased risk of breast cancer and yet other studies have shown there is no link between birth control pills and increased risk of breast cancer. Many people still believe that the longer a woman is on the pill, the greater her risk of developing breast cancer.

Then there were some who claimed that prolonged use of birth control pills increased the risk of developing heart problems and possible blood clots. Like the link with breast cancer, there are pros and cons on the issue and it all depends on who you believe.

A newly reported study now reports that the use of birth control pills LOWERS the risk of developing an aggressive and fatal form of ovarian cancer:

“Researchers at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University at Buffalo have concluded that women who used birth control can cut the chances of being diagnosed with aggressive ovarian cancer by 46 percent…”

“The research also found that the longer women have used birth control pills, the more they can reduce the risk of death from aggressive ovarian cancer. ‘For every five years of use, we observed 32% lower odds of highly fatal disease, compared to 13% for all ovarian cancer as previously reported by other researchers,’ according to first author Jennifer Mongiovi, a graduate student working with Dr. Moysich and also a cancer epidemiology fellow in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at Buffalo.”

For you ladies currently taking birth control pills, or are considering taking the pill, must weigh the reports for yourself. Does the pill increase the risk of breast cancer and/or heart issues? The jury is still out. However, it now appears that taking the pill does drastically lower the risk of developing the fatal form of ovarian cancer. Ultimately, the decision is yours.