America and the Pill: A History of Promise, Peril, and Liberation Book

Elaine Tyler May was 12 years old when the pill was approved by the FDA in 1960 (50 years ago today, as I write this). Her own parents were reproductive choice advocates in Los Angeles, running Planned Parenthood clinics. Her father, Dr. Edward Tyler, ran clinical tests of the Pill and held up approval of the first pill, Enovid, because he was concerned about significant side effects that weren't being addressed by the manufacturers. Elaine knew more about birth control than most kids her age.

It's this personal perspective that enhanced my reading of this book. While it maintains a fairly unbiased view of the Pill and its consequences (good and bad), the author obviously maintains an insider knowledge of its beginnings, and as a noted scholar of feminism she can help us understand what the Pill has meant to our society over the past 50 years.

It's a slim, easy read, therefore I recommend this to any woman who has used, loved, hated, or pondered any form of birth control since 1960. In fact, it should be required reading.