One of Sigmund Freud's early patients rushed out into an Austrian afternoon on her way to meet her best friend at a coffee house.
Over Cappuccino and Viennese pastries, she suddenly burst out crying.
Her friend begged her to share what was wrong.
"Oh, it's just terrible," she wailed. "Today the doctor told me I'm in love with my father, and. . .and. . .and you know, he's a married man!"
Birth control pillIn 1960, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a pill as safe for birth control use. In 1953, Margaret Sanger, a legendary birth control crusader gave Dr. Gregory Pincus $150,000 to continue his prior research and develop a safe and effective oral contraceptive for women. The original version contained at least five times the estrogen that it does today, and ten times the progestin. Reductions addressed early medical problems, mainly with dangerous blood clots. The pill, now the most common form of birth control used by millions of women, is about 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy. After 40 years, U.S. women still need a doctor's prescription, but the pill is available over-the-counter in many other countries.[Image: pills in a modern calendar package] |
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