The Pill at Fifty: How the New York Times Covered the Birth Control Pill, 1960–2010

Wicked or Warranted?

“…As Kruvand's (2012) analysis of the New York Times coverage of "the Pill" between 1960 and 2010 illustrates, women's access to contraception continued to be buffeted by changing social, cultural and political tides. And while concerns about morality and safety may have ebbed and flowed, they never disappeared.…”

“…The law criminalized the publication, dissemination and possession of obscene materials including "information about or devices or medications for 'unlawful' abortion or contraception" (Comstock Act 2012). Almost a century later and five years after the invention of "the Pill," the 1965 Supreme Court ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut that a law prohibiting contraceptive use violated the right to "marital privacy" (Baer 2002;Kruvand 2012). In 1970, President Nixon signed into law Title X, a program under the Public Health Service Act, which provided federal funding for family planning including contraceptive information and services (www.hhs.gov/opa/ title-x-family-planning).…”

“…There have been numerous studies on birth control (Baer 2002;Brodie 1994;Engelman 2011;Gordon 1990;Hajo 2010;Joffe 1986;Reed 1978;Tone 1997) and the role of women like Margaret Sanger and Emma Goldman in the fight for access to contraception (Bone 2010;Buerkle 2009;Lumsden 2007;Rogness and Foust 2011). Few scholars, however, have examined press coverage of contraception (Bone 2010;Endres 1968;Flamiano 1998;Kruvand 2012). Bone (2010) examined the rhetorical tactics Margaret Sanger used to speak about contraception in articles she wrote for the New York Call, The Woman Rebel and Family Limitation.…”

“…Flamiano (1998) determined that news stories about birth control in the New York Times, the New Republic and Harper's Weekly, between 1915 and 1917, emphasized the benefits to family planning, religious views on contraception, concerns over the public morals of women and "race suicide". Finally, Kruvand's (2012) examination of the New York Times coverage of "the Pill" between 1960 and 2010 revealed that while news sources and frames shifted dramatically, concerns about the safety and morality of contraception did not disappear. This study extends this work by examining New York Times and the Los Angeles Times 1873 and 1917 press coverage of contraception.…”

“The Birth Control Divide”

“…Numerous scholars have examined the legal, social, and political history of birth control (Baer, 2002; Brodie, 1994; Engelman, 2011; Gordon, 1990; Hajo, 2010; Joffe, 1986; Reed, 1978; Tone, 1997) and the work of activists such as Margaret Sanger and Emma Goldman (Bone, 2010; Buerkle, 2009; Lumsden, 2007; Rogness & Foust, 2011). Press coverage of birth control has received less attention, although some scholars have looked at this (Bone, 2010; Endres, 1968; Faludi, 1992; Flamiano, 1998; Garner, 2014; Garner & Mendez, 2014; Kruvand, 2012). Among those who explored the rhetorical strategies and aims of birth control columns and advertisements, Bone (2010), for example, found that Sanger used rhetorical appeals to advocate contraception in the New York Call , The Woman Rebel , and Family Limitation .…”