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Engineering A Better Birth Control

UCI UC Irvine
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Jonathan Eig's book focuses on how the birth control pill came into popular use.

When the birth control pill was introduced in 1960, it gave women the power to prevent pregnancy. With that option came freedom. 

Suddenly women all over the United States are going to their doctors and saying 'I want it now.'

 "Suddenly women all over the United States are going to their doctors and saying 'I want it now.' This is important because it sends the message that the government may not be ready for it, the Church might not be ready for it, but American women are ready for it, and if it works, they're going to take it," Jonathan Eig explains.

Eig is the author of  the new book The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution.

During this Talk of Iowa interview, host Charity Nebbe talks with Eig about the development of the pill, which put control and more reliable options for family planning in the hands of many Americans.

Editor's Note: This show originally aired on Februrary 19, 2015.