Well, TPWKY listeners, it has been a heck of a year, and it’s not even over yet! But one thing has come to an end: our third season. Given the profound implications these next couple of months will have on the future of health and security in the United States, for our season finale we chose to cover a topic that’s near and dear to our hearts and minds: birth control. Have you ever thought to yourself, “I know this IUD/patch/pill prevents pregnancy, but how exactly does it do that?” or “How on earth did someone come up with this pill and then get it legalized?” If so, you’re in luck. In this episode, we walk through the basics of how the most common hormonal contraceptives work and then journey through the history of the various birth control movements in the United States. Finally, we wrap up with some of the latest developments in birth control technology (male hormonal contraceptives, anyone?) as well as the major legal decisions impacting access to birth control.
We want to thank all of you fantastic listeners who have been with us through this wild year. You have made it all worth it! And fear not – we’ll be back with season 4 before you know it. Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the first episode drop of the next season!
| History | Biology |
| Gordon, Linda. The moral property of women: A history of birth control politics in America. University of Illinois Press, 2002. | Nelson AL, Massoudi N. New developments in intrauterine device use: focus on the US. Open Access J Contracept. 2016;7:127-141. Published 2016 Sep 13. doi:10.2147/OAJC.S85755 |
| Eig, Jonathan. The birth of the pill: How four pioneers reinvented sex and launched a revolution. Pan Macmillan, 2016. | Parks C, Peipert JF. Eliminating health disparities in unintended pregnancy with long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2016;214(6):681-688. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2016.02.017 |
| https://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book-excerpts/health-article/a-brief-history-of-birth-control/ | Cleland K, Bass J, Doci F, Foster AM. Access to Emergency Contraception in the Over-the-Counter Era. Womens Health Issues. 2016;26(6):622-627. doi:10.1016/j.whi.2016.08.003 |
| Rivera, R., Yacobson, I., & Grimes, D. (1999). The mechanism of action of hormonal contraceptives and intrauterine contraceptive devices. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 181(5), 1263-1269. | |
| Thirumalai, A., & Page, S. T. (2019). Recent developments in male contraception. Drugs, 79(1), 11-20. | |
| Shoupe, D. (Ed.). (2020). The Handbook of Contraception: Evidence based practice recommendations and rationales (3rd ed.). N.p.: Springer Nature Switzerland. | |
| Guttmacher Institute, “State policy trends 2019: A wave of abortion bands, but some states are fighting back“ https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2019/12/state-policy-trends-2019-wave-abortion-bans-some-states-are-fighting-back | |
| Finer, L. B., & Zolna, M. R. (2016). Declines in unintended pregnancy in the United States, 2008–2011. New England Journal of Medicine, 374(9), 843-852. | |
| Frost JJ, Frohwirth LF and Zolna MR, Contraceptive Needs and Services, 2014 Update, New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2016, https://www.guttmacher.org/report/contraceptive-needs-and-services-2014-…. |
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