In Touch With Our Roots

The Birth Pill and the Women’s Right to Choose (Abortion Debate)

The Birth Pill (Contraceptive Pill) was invented in 1960 and quickly came into use. This hailed a great and dramatic change in the eternal ‘war of the sexes’

For the first time many women were able to control when they had children and therefore control their working lives and better plan a career.

The abortion question then as now engendered heated debate on both sides. There are many reasons a women would seek an abortion at the time – many had no access to the ‘Pill’ for example. Medical abortion techniques had improved taking it out of the back streets and into legality and hence making legal abortions more accessible.

Trade Unions have consistently argued for the Women’s Right to Choose and many of the arguments are set out in this section’s materials.

Click here to read the above article

Check out too Mike Leigh’s Film - Vera Drake - for a take on how ordinary people dealt with abortion in the days leading up to legalisation.

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