Exploring Ancient and Modern Contraception and Reproductive Rights

ASSIGNMENT 1 HUMAN SEXUALITY THROUGHOUT HISTORY TIMELINE BY

The Ancient Contraception • Contraceptives prevent pregnancy. • In the ancient times, women had to find birth control methods following the practices of the Egyptians and Chinese recipes (Comparetto & Borruto, 2022). • According to Comparetto and Borruto (2022), Ancient contraception dates from 4000 years ago where doctors advised a mixture of dung and honey to be placed in the vagina for long periods. • The Egyptians crafted tampons from honey and acacia leaves to kill off the sperms with the resulting lactic acid (Bimek Team, 2015). • A pressed out lemon was also used as contraception placed on the women cervix and is still used today by most women (Bimek Team, 2015).

Condoms • Condoms were invented in the 15 th century to respond to the syphilis epidemic in Europe (Ismael & Zangana, 2012). • Condoms were developed from animal gut, leather and later rubber in the 18 th century (Ismael & Zangana, 2012). • The first condoms were made of sheaths first used by the Ancient Egyptians (Khan et al., 2013). • Later, the condom was found useful in protecting women against getting pregnant in addition to keeping men healthy and free of sexually transmitted diseases (Ismael & Zangana, 2012).

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Abortion • A rich history prevails regarding women helping each other to abort. In fact, until the 1800’s, in the United States and Western Europe, women healers educated other women regarding abortion while providing them without law prohibitions (Boston Women's Health Book Collective, 1998). • However, in the 1973 Supreme court ruling in the Roe vs Wade, women were afforded the right to privacy under personal liberty in the 14 th Amendment (Boston Women's Health Book Collective, 1998). • Women were given control over their fertility making it legal to discontinue their pregnancy upon their decision (Joyce et al., 2013). • Failure to legalize abortions did not deter women from having abortions; rather they resorted to illegal unsafe abortions (Sanger et al., 2022).

The Pill (1960) • The revolution of the pill occurred in the 20 th century in the 1960’s following the quest for effective and safe contraception (Planned Parenthood, 2015). • Margaret Sanger, the American Birth Control League made it possible for the development of the pill (Planned Parenthood, 2015). • Significantly, most of the women who partook in the revolution of the pill were young women who took the responsibility of their sexual life.

The Test Tube Baby (1978) • In 1978 July 25 th , the first world Test tube baby, Louise Joy Brown was born (History.com Editors, 2020). • Peter Brown and Lesley were the parents to Louise Joy who was conceived through vitro fertilization (IVF) at a District general Hospital at Oldham in Manchester England (History.com Editors, 2020). The medical specialists, Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards who conducted the procedure are considered the IVF pioneers (Nordqvist, 2022). • Before giving birth, Lesley Brown had suffered years of infertility because of blocked fallopian tubes.

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Viagra (1998) • Viagra is a blue pill that ushered the second sexual revolution. • Viagra was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 27 th March 1998 to treat impotence among men (History.com Editors, 2021). • Sildenafil which was studied originally for treating angina pectoris and hypertension was found by Pfizer pharmaceutical company chemists to have little effect on the angina but could induce penile erections within half to an hour (History.com Editors, 2021). • The approval of the Viagra helped men with penile erection problems to resume their sexual life experiences.

Homosexuality (1969) • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) is celebrated annually on June as a recognition for the Pride month to honour the Manhattan stone wall uprising that happened in 1969 in New York (Library of Congress, 2022). • As the LGBT community is not a stranger to violence, the 1960’s were tough times for the group. • Activists resistance in 1969 erupted into a political movement intensified by stone wall riots enhancing the modern day gay rights movement (History.com Editors, 2022). • Indecency and sodomy laws were established in 1969 after verett George Klippert was sentenced for homosexuality (Levy, 2019). However, there were limitations as the laws applied to people aged 21 years and above. • In 2019, the sodomy laws were equal for people from age sixteen (Levy, 2019)

The Intrauterine Device (IUD) (1909) • The first documentation of the IUD occurred in 1909 conducted by Dr. Richard Richter in Germany (Reproductive Health access Project, 2013). • Dr. Richard Richter used a silkworm ring which he inserted into the uterus after cutting off two ends for easy checking and removal. • In the 1920’s mid, Ernest Graefenberg and Karl Prust introduced similar versions of the IUD without mentioning that of Dr. Richard (Reproductive Health access Project, 2013). Prust recommended a ring that had a stiff cervical extension with a glass button and thread for covering the cervix. Graefenberg development was without the silkworm for concern over infections. • Upon the introduction of the IUD, pregnancy rates dropped by 1.6% and was widely used in mots British empires and England (Reproductive Health access Project, 2013).

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Sexual Education • The United States Public Health Service advocated for sexuality education in schools terming it as an urgent need (Pardini, 2022). • American School Health Association in 1953 launched a program nationally for family life education. Later after two years, NEA together with the American Medical Association published 5 pamphlets that were identified as “sex education series” for schools (Pardini, 2022).

The Egg and Sperm Discovery • Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovered the sperm in 1677 after having sex with his wife through his microscope at the city of Delft (Kelly, 2015). • After the sperm introduction, scientists denied it being able to reproduce human life. • It was not until 1875 when scientists discovered that women produce eggs which when they meet with the sperms they create babies (Dolnick, 2017).

References • Bimek Team. (2015). A quick history of contraception - Part 1: The Ancient Egyptians. Bimek SLV. Retrieved 9 June 2022, from https://bimek.com/2015/09/23/a-quick-history-of-contraception-part-1-the-ancient-egyptians/. • Boston Women's Health Book Collective. (1998). Our Bodies, Ourselves for the New Century: A Book by and for Women (p. 780). Simon & Schuster. • Comparetto, C., & Borruto, F. (2022). The history of contraception: From ancient egyptians to the "morning after." Retrieved 9 June 2022, from. • DOLNICK, E. (2017). Why It Took Scientists So Long to Figure Out Where Babies Come From: Human conception was still basically a total mystery until as recently as 1875.. Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/discovery-where-babies-come-from. • Gabe L. (2018). Why Sex Education Is Important. Powertodecide.org. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://powertodecide.org/teen-talk/why-sex-education- important. • History.com Editors. (2020). World’s first "test tube" baby born. HISTORY. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in- history/worlds-first-test-tube-baby-born#:~:text=On%20July%2025%2C%201978%2C%20Louise,parents%20Lesley%20and%20Peter%20Brown. • History.com Editors. (2021). FDA approves Viagra. HISTORY. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fda-approves- viagra#:~:text=On%20March%2027%2C%201998%2C%20the,oral%20medication%20that%20treats%20impotence. • History.com Editors. (2022). Stonewall Riots. HISTORY. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots.

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• Ismael , A. S., & Zangana, J. M. S. (2012). Knowledge, attitudes and practice of condom use among males aged (15-49) years in Erbil Governorate. Global journal of health science, 4(4), 27. • Joyce, T., Tan, R., & Zhang, Y. (2013). Abortion before & after Roe. Journal of health economics, 32(5), 804-815. • Kelly, D. (2015). The First Person Who Ever Saw Sperm Cells Collected Them From His Wife. Gizmodo. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://gizmodo.com/the-first-time-anyone-saw-sperm-1708170526. • Khan, F., Mukhtar, S., Dickinson, I. K., & Sriprasad, S. (2013). The story of the condom. Indian Journal of Urology: IJU: Journal of the Urological Society of India, 29(1), 12. • Levy, R. (2019). The 1969 Amendment and the (De)criminalization of Homosexuality | The Canadian Encyclopedia. Thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the- 1969-amendment-and-the-de-criminalization-of-homosexuality. • Library of Congress. (2022). About | Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Pride Month | Library of Congress. The Library of Congress. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://www.loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/about/. • Merab, E. (2018). 20 years of Viagra: Has the 'wonder pill' lived up to its promise?. The East African. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/science-health/20-years-of-viagra-has-the-wonder-pill-lived-up- to-its-promise--1386922. • Nordqvist, J. (2022). IVF: Cost, process, due date calculator, and success. Medicalnewstoday.com. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/262798.

• Pardini, P. (2022). The History of Sexuality Education. Rethinking Schools. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/the-history-of-sexuality-education/. • Planned Parenthood. (2015). The Birth Control Pill-A History [Ebook]. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/1514/3518/7100/Pill_History_FactSheet.pdf. • Reproductive Health access Project. (2013). A History: the IUD - Reproductive Health Access Project. Reproductive Health Access Project. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://www.reproductiveaccess.org/2013/01/a-history-the-iud/. • Sanger, M., Matthew, & Levine, E. (2022). Abortion Before and After Legalization. Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved 10 June 2022, from https://www.guttmacher.org/perspectives50/abortion-and-after-legalization.

Human Sexuality Throughout History Time-line (1)

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