Skip to main content

The timeline can be navigated by dragging the pointer on the timeline bar, located at the bottom of the screen on the desktop version and on the left of the screen on mobile. To filter by a specific topic, make a selection on the dropdown “Filters” menu or click “Search” to do a keyword search. To learn more, click “Read More” below.

Read More

Planned Parenthood funds medical experimentation for the birth control pill.

1951

RSCH
RHRR
EXP
MHP

Planned Parenthood awards a grant to Gregory Pincus, John Rock, and M.C. Chang to undertake research for the development of a birth control pill. Katharine Dexter McCormick, a leader in the suffrage movement and the League of Women Voters, oversees the research process. She also donates the majority of the financial resources needed for this research.

Some of the research takes place at a state hospital where 16 female mental health patients are given prototypes of the birth control pill, and then have their uteruses surgically opened to track the drug's effect on ovulation.