racial inequeties in the making of the birth control pill
The history of the Pill is a history interwoven with capitalism, exploitation, racism and classism. In that this is a historical look at oral contraception, this section will proceed in chronological order through the development, testing and present day situation of "the Pill." This historical look will also discuss the effects of capitalism, exploitation, racism and classism, with a careful look at how the effects of oral contraception were felt in vastly different ways by white women and black women.Development of the Pill was partly facilitated by Katherine McCormic, multi-million dollar widow and friend of Margaret Sanger, who contributed over three million dollars for scientific research into the development of oral contraception (Chesler 432), but was primarily funded by pharmaceutical companies and every major international institution for population control (Petchesky 171). The first oral progestin was synthesized in 1951 by Carl Djerassi and other chemists at the University of Mexico (Chesler 432). Built on Djerassi's work and funded greatly by McCormic, Gregory Pincus, M.C. Chang and John Rock, a Catholic pro-birth control gynecologist, collaborated to further develop the Pill and experiment wit
Reynolds, Moira Davidson. Women Advocates of Reproductive Rights Eleven who Lead the Struggle in the United States and Great Britain. McFarland & Company, Jefferson, NC: 1994. McLaren, Angus. A History of Contraception: From Antiquity to the Present Day. Blackwell Inc., Cambridge, MA: 1990. White women have had a unique experience with birth control. Unlike their colored sisters who were originally fighting for the right to bear children in economically and environmentally suitable conditions, white women were fighting for the right to limit family size. Institutional factors have intervened to promote the standard of the white mother since the 19th century. La Operacion. Directed and produced by Ana Maria Garcia. Forrest, J.D. and R. Samara. "Impact on Publicly Funded Contraceptive Services and Implications for Medical Expenditures." Family Planning Perspectives 28 (1996): 188- 195. Djerassi, Carl. The Politics of Contraception. W.W. Norton & Company, New York: 1979.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Davis16 Women, La Operacion, Angela Davis, Puerto Rico, Dinner Speech, Service Act, League ABCL, Birth Control, Djerassi Politics, birth control, Brown Added, la operacion, puerto rico, population control, white women, birth control movement, control movement, reproductive rights, women color, oral contraception, family planning, population control programs, press boston1990 pp, fried south press, food drug administration,
Approximate Word count = 2351
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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