1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,320 Speaker 1: Already and this is this is the Daily Off. 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 2: This is the Daily OS. Oh, now it makes sense. 3 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 2: Happy silly season and welcome to the Daily OS. I'm 4 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 2: Lucy here with another edition of tda's summer series. We're 5 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 2: revisiting our favorite deep dives for your listening pleasure while 6 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 2: you're cleaning the barbecue, waiting the twenty minutes before your 7 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 2: sunscreen sinks in, or making that last minute trip to 8 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 2: pick up a few more bags of ice from the servo. 9 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 2: Twenty twenty four marked sixty three years since the oral 10 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 2: contraceptive pill became available in Australia. Back then, it was 11 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 2: only meant to be prescribed to married women and came 12 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 2: with a big tax, but people who needed it found 13 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 2: a way to get it. Sam and I took a 14 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 2: trip back in time to find out how the pill 15 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 2: came to be, what it was like when it finally arrived, 16 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:58,400 Speaker 2: and what the future of contraception might hold. 17 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: Oral country perceptives aka the pill have been around for 18 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: so long that they've become a huge part of everyday 19 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: life for a huge chunk of Australians. They're broadly accessible 20 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: through a prescription from a GP in some cases resupplies 21 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: of the pill are even available without the need for 22 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: a GP visit, like in several New South Wales pharmacies. 23 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: But that wasn't actually the case for most of human history, right, 24 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: that's right. 25 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 2: For as long as people have had sex, they've been 26 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:31,680 Speaker 2: experimenting with contraceptives. Lots of historical contraceptives are just unspeakable. 27 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 2: People have been putting things inside or on themselves in 28 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 2: order to prevent pregnancy for a long long time. And 29 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 2: truly are feel blessed to live in the twenty first 30 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 2: century and not in ancient Egypt. I'm a woman in 31 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 2: my twenties with no children, and that's my choice, and 32 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 2: it's within my control when or if I choose to 33 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 2: have them. The same would not be true if I 34 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 2: was born in the nineteen thirties rather than the nineteen nineties. 35 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: So when did the pill come onto the scene? Was 36 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: the kind of context that led up to the development 37 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: of the product. 38 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 2: We have to go back to the story of Margaret's Sanger. 39 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 2: She was an American woman who was born in the 40 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 2: eighteen seventies. She founded the movement for birth control. In fact, 41 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 2: she actually coined the term birth control. She was the 42 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 2: sixth kid of eleven and her mother died aged fifty, 43 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 2: and Margaret Sanger believed the reason her mother died was 44 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 2: that her body had been just broken down by many, 45 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 2: many pregnancies. She then worked as a public health nurse 46 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 2: in New York City. So in the early twentieth century 47 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 2: in New York City, she saw firsthand the impact of 48 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:45,519 Speaker 2: unwanted pregnancies, particularly on low socioeconomic status families and migrant women, 49 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 2: and she helped care for women who went to desperate, 50 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,359 Speaker 2: often life threatening lengths to terminate their pregnancies. She was 51 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 2: radicalized very early on to believe that then needed to 52 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 2: be away for women to be able to control their fertility. 53 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: What a radical idea. 54 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 2: I know, but it genuinely was radical. It wasn't until 55 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 2: she was in her seventies actually, that everything fell into 56 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 2: place for her to realize her biggest dream, which we 57 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 2: have records of her writing about for a long time, 58 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,359 Speaker 2: what she called a magic pill to prevent pregnancies. 59 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: So Margaret Sanger was a nurse but not necessarily a scientist. 60 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 1: How did she actually start the process of developing the 61 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:24,640 Speaker 1: magic pill? 62 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 2: So in the early nineteen fifties, she actually tracked down 63 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 2: a scientist named Gregory Pinkus. Gregory Pinkus was at this 64 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 2: time holding an annual conference where scientists could present their 65 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 2: discoveries about human hormones. And she was also very luckily 66 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 2: in contact with Kathleen McCormick, who was a wealthy widow 67 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 2: who wanted to spend her deceased husband's money on research 68 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 2: into contraceptives. It was really it was kismet. All these 69 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 2: things came together at the same time. So, with Kathleen 70 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 2: McCormick's funding, Gregory Pinkus worked with another doctor, doctor John Rock, 71 00:03:57,840 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 2: to develop the first birth control pill. 72 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: And what did that pill look like? Is it the 73 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: same as what we've got in pharmacies today. 74 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 2: It actually was a lot stronger than the pill that 75 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 2: you can get today, unnecessarily stronger. The pill that you 76 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 2: can get at the GP today is less powerful in 77 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 2: that sense. So, as I said, it was tested in 78 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 2: the nineteen fifties, and it was tested on women in 79 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 2: Puerto Rico, which is a US territory. Many women in 80 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 2: Puerto Rico were not told what they were taking. They 81 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 2: weren't necessarily told that it was an experimental drug or 82 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 2: what effects it would have, and a significant proportion of 83 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 2: those women had fairly serious side effects and three died, 84 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 2: but there was actually no investigation into whether the pill 85 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 2: caused their deaths. 86 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,719 Speaker 1: Right and when we've had this discussion with tda's audience, 87 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: both on the podcast but also on Instagram sometimes in 88 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: the context of whether a male contraceptive pill should be developed, 89 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: we've had feedback that, you know, people experienced side effects 90 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: like migraine's hormone in balances or mental ill health that 91 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:04,919 Speaker 1: they eventually have traced back to the pill. So it 92 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: doesn't sound like much has changed in terms of side effects, 93 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: although a world without the pill altogether feels like a 94 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: long long time ago. How did the pill then come 95 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: to market and become a staple? 96 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 2: I think in terms of those side effects, in the 97 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,599 Speaker 2: absence of any other option, people kind of decided that 98 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 2: was a price that they were willing to pay, or 99 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 2: that people would be willing to pay. So the US 100 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 2: Food and Drug Administration the FDA, approved the contraceptive pill 101 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 2: in nineteen sixty and it came to Australia the following 102 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 2: year under the name A NOVELA One thing actually that 103 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,279 Speaker 2: I found in researching this in the FDA's history of 104 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 2: approving the pill is that they actually noted that the 105 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 2: pill was approved a couple of years before we understood 106 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 2: the dangers of the lidamide, which was a morning sickness 107 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 2: pill that ended up causing fairly serious physical disability and 108 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 2: death in babies born to women who took it. The 109 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 2: dangers of the lidamide were discovered a couple of years later, 110 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,039 Speaker 2: and this history that I read suggested that if the 111 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 2: pill had come up for approval after nineteen sixty two 112 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 2: rather than before, it actually might have been subject to 113 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 2: more regulations or a stricter approvals process. Maybe the formula 114 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,919 Speaker 2: could have been changed. It's hard to speculate on a 115 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 2: year or two's difference in terms of regulations, but this 116 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 2: history cited the thlidimide case as a very important turning 117 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 2: point in the kind of regulations that they would do 118 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 2: around these kind of drugs, and the pill just kind 119 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 2: of slipped under the. 120 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: Wire right before that, And that was the subject of 121 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: the apology to survivors that the government issued a couple 122 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: of months ago. We did a podcast episode on that. 123 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: I'll put that in today's show notes. So that takes 124 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: us until the kind of mainstream development of the pill 125 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:48,919 Speaker 1: and how it came to market in the US. What 126 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:50,919 Speaker 1: was it like to try and get the pill in 127 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: those early days in Australia. 128 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 2: When the pill came to Australia in nineteen sixty one, 129 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:59,160 Speaker 2: it had a twenty seven and a half percent luxury 130 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 2: tax tack onto it, which is very steep. It was 131 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 2: officially only available to married women, although I read two 132 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 2: first hand accounts from women who were not married in 133 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 2: the nineteen sixties about how women would pass around the 134 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 2: names of doctors who would prescribe it to single ladies. 135 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 2: In nineteen seventy two, following pressure from the newly formed 136 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 2: Women's electoral Lobby, the new pm GoF Whitlam actually scrapped 137 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 2: the tax and put the pill on the Pharmaceutical Benefits scheme, 138 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 2: which is how the government subsidizes the price of some medicines. 139 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 2: One article I read in the lead up to this 140 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 2: described the pill's arrival in Australia as dropping like a 141 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 2: bomb into women's lives. And you can imagine going from 142 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 2: basically no control to some control over your fertility. 143 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: Well, talk to me about those changes. So what changed 144 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: more broadly in kind of a social sense once that happened. 145 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 2: In the years Immediately following the pill becoming available, women 146 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 2: were more and more able to participate in the workforce. 147 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 2: There were other social changes happening that push this forward. 148 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 2: But you know, we can't discount the impact of being 149 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 2: able to control when you got pregnant and how many 150 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 2: children you had. So per the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 151 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 2: women made up less than a third of the workforce 152 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 2: in nineteen sixty six, and as of last month, women 153 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 2: make up close to half of the workforce. 154 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: So why don't we finish this episode in a place 155 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: that we've often come to in these discussions before. We've 156 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: talked about the side effects of oral contraceptives for women. 157 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: Where are we at with male contraceptives? Is there any 158 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: medical equivalent to the pill for men? Has there been 159 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: any recent developments in this space. 160 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 2: There are a few different studies in progress. There's a 161 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 2: gel that's being developed to put on your body to 162 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 2: lower your sperm count temporarily. There's a pill being developed 163 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 2: that would temporarily prevent the body from making more sperm, 164 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 2: and even a pill being developed that could make spermswim 165 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 2: more slowly. So that's one that TDA has actually looked into. 166 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,080 Speaker 2: We made a video about it and will pop that 167 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 2: in the show notes. But as a general rule, it 168 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 2: really does seem like the pill for men is a 169 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 2: long long way away. Thanks so much for listening to 170 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 2: tda's summer series. We'll be back again tomorrow with another episode. 171 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 2: See you then. 172 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:22,840 Speaker 1: My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda 173 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 1: Bungelung Caalcutin woman from Gadighl Country. 174 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 2: The Daily oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on 175 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 2: the lands of the Gadighl people and pays respect to 176 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 2: all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island and nations. We pay 177 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 2: our respects to the first peoples of these countries, both 178 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 2: past and present.