December 4, 1961 - Britain Funds Birth Control Pill

Human Rights a Day

Britain’s national health plan to fund birth control pill. British Health Minister Enoch Powell announced in the House of Commons on December 4, 1961 that the birth control pill would be made widely available to women and be paid for by the country’s national health care program. That was nine years before the Canadian government legalized birth control and counselling on the topic. Why was Canada so slow to promote birth control? Perhaps because in the 1960s, the birth control pill had many negative side effects, and its long-term effects were unknown. Even so, more and more women were opting for this oral form of contraception. In Canada in the 1960s, it was illegal to counsel people about birth control, even though it was available and widely used. No one had been prosecuted for giving out birth control advice since 1937, yet information was still being offered discreetly. That changed in June of 1969 when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his Liberal government legalized all forms of contraception. The criminal code was just catching up with the practices of many Canadians. To this day, “the pill” remains the most popular form of reversible contraceptive in the Western world. Considered one of the most significant changes in medicine, it has had a profound effect on daily life, especially for women.