The pill and the rising costs of fertility control

Abstract

Until recently it seemed obvious that oral contraception greatly reduced the costs of fertility control. Anxiety about effectiveness was removed, and the inconvenience and displeasure associated with coitus‐related contraception was bypassed. These advantages doubtless led to the sharp rise in pill use during the 1960's in the United States. The 197O's, however, appear to have ushered in a different calculus regarding the pill. Not only has the trend in pill use leveled off, but suspicions have arisen that the net costs to women of practicing this form of birth control are higher than was previously believed. It now appears that significant costs to health may exist and that people are increasingly evincing concern about these physiological consequences. In this paper, the trend in use of oral contraception is examined briefly. Then, a short summary of some of the health risks apparently involved in use of the pill is presented. Finally, the main body of the paper provides information on public attitudes toward the pill over the decade 1966–76.