Birth control pill turns 50

In case you missed it, the oral contraceptive pill has reached a milestone. We are in the midst of celebrating 50 years of the birth control pill.

The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian has a small display in one of its wings honoring this anniversary.

I was in Washington DC last week with my son's eighth-grade class and was able to see the display. Rather than go into a long discussion on reproductive rights, I thought that I would just share a few pictures that I took with my BlackBerry (can you believe that we left our good camera behind?).




This is how birth control pills used to be packaged.

An editorial cartoon from the era.











And what would be a politically incorrect cartoon by today's standards.

Just a bit of pharmaceutical history from the Smithsonian.