Some of Us Remember When Contraception Was Mostly Illegal

[MineralMan]

I do. In high school (Class of 1963), in California, condoms were illegal to sell to unmarried people under the age of 21. The Pill did not exist yet, and doctors could not prescribe diaphragms to any women who was under 21 or unmarried.

That's hard for most people to imagine now. You'd think high school kids in those days would have been very leery of having sex, just because of that. I can tell you that was not the case. In my small town high school class of about 100 kids, there were 10 girls I know of who got pregnant. Most went to "visit their aunt" somewhere. A few married the boy. I know of one girl, the daughter of the town mayor, who had an abortion, courtesy of one of the doctors in town who sometimes did that in certain cases. Ten percent of high school girls in my class.

Now, they weren't the only ones having sex with their boyfriends. Condoms were available if you had a friend over 21, or if you traveled to Arizona or Nevada, where they were sold in vending machine at every gas station. The so-called "rhythm method" was known to all of us, but that did require some attention being paid to "safe" times. Still only 10% of the girls in my class got pregnant, as far as I know. It could have been more.

Anyhow, the teen pregnancy rate was higher then than it is now. So, no access to contraception was not a very effective tool for protecting the "morals' of young folks.

Anyhow, by sometime in 1964 or 65, the pill became generally available. Condoms became legal to buy, even in California. The student health center at the state university I attended had a huge fishbowl full of condoms and female students were routinely prescribed the pill on request. Everyone relaxed a little after that.

Now, we may be heading for a time when contraception isn't so easily available. If the haters get their way, we'll be right back in the early 60s again. It's going to make a huge impact, since we're no longer used to that situation. Everyone will have to learn about the alternative methods all over again.

I'm concerned about this. If you're younger, you should be concerned about it, too.

[magicarpet]

1. My Mother used to tell stories when she was younger her girl friends would drink turpentine,... to induce an abortion,..

... for children they could not afford or their boyfriends did not want.

Anybody want a Draino cocktail?

[nolabear]

7. And threw themselves down stairs

and went to root doctors who were more common in the South than most people know. And tried to self-abort. Hence the coat hanger. Girls and women did often irreparable harm to themselves. Men walked away.

[magicarpet]

10. Back alley bloodbath,..

Oops that did not work out so good.

Glad we got the money in advance.

Quick let's get outta here, be sure to wash the blood off your hands and trash those bloody clothes.

See ya till the next one.

[japple]

18. Lysol douches

[nolabear]

24. Yep. Jesus.

🤦🏼‍♀️

[SARose]

2. I remember

My Dad had to give written permission for my Mother to be fitted with a diaphragm before she married.

I am a rhythm method baby!😂

[Wounded Bear]

8. IIRC they used to call the rhythm method "rhythm and blues"...nt

[Easterncedar]

12. Yeah. Absurdly ineffective

[Trailrider1951]

15. Yeah, remember this?

Q: What do they call people who use the rhythm method?
A: Parents.

[JoseBalow]

25. Vatican Roulette

[MiHale]

3. Yeah, I remember the coat hanger stories...

One of my older sister’s friends died.

[iluvtennis]

20. And one of my aunts was rendered infertile after the coat hanger episode. She was never abe to have children. n/t

[Diamond_Dog]

4. We absolutely should require sex education in schools too.

And don’t wait until high school. I would say 7th grade.

[erronis]

26. That will go to the trash heap, along with most other real scientific education.

If the "church" doesn't want it talked about, you'll only learn from people in the back alleys.

[snowybirdie]

5. Ha the good old days

🖐. We made it though😎

[Wounded Bear]

9. Maybe we made it...

but many didn't.

[snowybirdie]

11. Of course

Glad my grandchildren don't have to experience that

[Easterncedar]

13. Not yet

[rzemanfl]

6. I remember those days too. n/t

[PCIntern]

14. Hey fellow oldsters...remember this:

SOLD FOR THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE ONLY

on condom wrappers and machines.

[MineralMan]

16. Yep. I remember.

[Danmel]

17. Birth control for married couples was legalized in 1965

Griswold v. Connecticut.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griswold_v._Connecticut
Some of the Supreme Court today seek to overturn this

[LymphocyteLover]

19. IIRC it was thought that the crime rate went down once birth control and abortion were more readily available, due to

fewer neglected and abused children.

[moniss]

21. In addition to remembering it

I recall the incredible repression of what was viewed as "possible" prospects for the vast majority of kids in the 1950's. College was beyond the means for so very many people and so your choices were to graduate from high school and then work where your Dad did etc. and marry and have kids and do the same life your parents did. Did I say there were choices? Plural? Well you did have the option of being considered "odd" and not doing that first selection which meant if you stayed around your hometown then people acted like there was "something wrong with you".

If you didn't stay around the hometown and were the adventurous sort you might find your way to NYC, LA or San Francisco and you could be hungry and outcast there but at least not be openly condemned every day by the people who claimed to care about you or get the heavy pressure to "conform". I don't so much mean the Hippie years as I do the Folk, Jazz and Beat sort of thing. Some of us weren't cut out to marry who we were told, work where we were told, live where we were told and pop out kids like we were told.

That was a huge part of why we rebelled. The part about "being told" all the time. They want to submit the nation again. They believe that all will be fine when people are "doing what they're told". The buildup of resistance pressure that is created will blow eventually.

[IronLionZion]

22. It's a good time for men to get a vasectomy if they're sure they don't want kids

I got mine last week. Who knows how much longer that will be legal.

For any men who are curious, vasectomy these days is faster, easier, and less painful than you may think. "No scalpel vasectomy" is common now, just a poke, stretch, burn, glue it shut.

[erronis]

27. I had mine done in 1972 after my second child was born.

I was way too young to get married or have children in any case. And probably too young to make that type of decision.

But I was apparently a lousy father in any case so it's a good thing to spare any other poor children!

[3Hotdogs]

23. One of the women in the office I worked -- she used a douche of diluted Lysol "to kill the little germs."

[Lovie777]

28. One.....

When females are leaving👻

[haele]

29. My mom nearly had to die with my younger brother before she could get a hysterectomy.

She didn't have the body type that could carry children well. She was also was lucky we were living in Berkeley at the time and OBGYNs were more willing to do procedures like that for women once they had a kid or reached a certain age.

Haele

[Elessar Zappa]

30. Scary that those times may be returning.

[MineralMan]

31. Indeed it is!