Birth Control
...the course of history, discoveries are made that allow scientist to play Mother Nature with the human body. Obviously medical advances are useful in fighting diseases and disorders of the body, yet at times it seems as if scientist are crossing a thin line. Often, what seems to be a miracle sometimes turns into disaster. The Birth Control pill is one of those innovations that still is hotly criticized even forty-five years after the making. The questions still remain as to if the Pill is a miracle or a disaster. Debate is strong on whether this pill has helped society or hindered it and if the use of birth control diminishes ones values.
The History of Birth Control
The idea of women wanting to control the amount of children they have has probably been around since the beginning in time. The oldest accounts of the use of birth control stem from between 2000 and 1000 B.C from Egypt. Concoctions of animal dung, honey and other gum like substances or sponges soaked in vinegar were used as spermicidal agents, yet many times ineffective. History also shows a long trend of birth control being the woman’s responsibility. Yet early modern medicine introduced the condom in the sixteenth century. Gabriele Fallopius, an Italian anatomist, is recognized for his work with venereal diseases and the creation of a “sheath” to protect men from getting them. (Bullough and Bullough, 1994)
It was not for a few more centuries that good contraceptives would be developed. Many things hindered scientist in their work. The most difficult obstacle was that there was limited knowledge of the reproductive system until the twentieth century. An equally hindering factor was the ideals of contraceptives and sex of earlier times.
The history of these efforts at public awareness is a checkered one and the ultimate success is due to two more or less conflicting groups who became...
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