The Controversy About The Pill

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The controversy about the Pill continues to this day, ultimately it boils down to the question pertaining what is the Pill doing for the family, the women, and the man. From the early days of the Pill’s controversial life, it was illegal to produce and publicize any type of contraceptive. The way that the Pill was seen and criticized by citizens, religious figures, and the government shows the significant dilemma that was facing the people of the country. The subtitle of the book, The Pill: A History of Promise, Peril, and Liberation, does not portray the book in the correct way. The journey of the Pill was not perilous, it did not delivery on its promises, and it could be argued that it did not liberate women in any significant way. When …show more content…

The only types of hardship came from the views on the Pill from political and religious leaders. The Pill was finally accepted as a contraceptive and not a world problem solver by the mid-1960’s. The problems didn’t stop there for the Pill and for everyone who was using it. “The most formidable institutional foe of the pill was the Catholic Church.” The church had a very solid and sound case against the pill. The whole concept of the pill was to stop the act of procreation. This was against the main principles of the Catholic belief system. This sparked a lot of controversy between families who practiced Catholicism and the system behind their beliefs. A typical example of how the problem of belief over practice came into question was a scenario where a person practiced Catholicism and they were unable to support a large family for one reason of another. They would have to choose whether to use the pill or stick to their beliefs. Although the people were driving for the church to lift the ban on the pill, Catholic professionals were also fighting for the ban to be lifted. “Catholic doctors and clergy pushed Church authorities to lift the ban.” During the time of Vatican II, many thought that the regulations would be loosed and it would allow families to use contraceptives. This was not the case, in fact the Pope issued a formal encyclical,

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