NWHN’s 35th Anniversary

By Cynthia Pearson

Here’s the short version of NWHN’s founding: the first oral contraception pill was approved in 1960. In the next decade, evidence mounted about the Pill’s serious risks but, in keeping with the times, that information wasn’t shared with anyone but physicians. NWHN’s co-founder, Barbara Seaman, wrote a book to expose the Pill’s risks, which led to Senate hearings, chaired by Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-WI), who wanted the government to formally recognize patients’ right to know. But again, in keeping with the times, the hearings were an all-male affair, infuriating women in attendance. Those women eventually started asking (sometimes shouting!) their own questions from the audience, without really any pre-planning. Those questions voiced demands that became the women’s health movement’s heart and soul. Women want to be part of decisions made about them; information about their health care and the drugs they take; to be treated with respect by doctors; to have access to safe and effective contraceptives.

NWHN’s gestation began in that Senate hearing room, but it wasn’t until five years later, on December 16, 1975, that the NWHN had its first public action. Outside the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) headquarters, NWHN held a memorial service to honor women who died because the government hadn’t addressed women’s health risks. The service was galvanized by medical journal reports, published that day, linking estrogen “replacement” therapy (ERT) to endometrial cancer. Speakers connected ERT with the Pill and called on the FDA to give women information they could use to protect themselves. Women wanted reliable information about how pills worked, who was at risk, and how to recognize early signs of complications.

NWHN’s founders had pushed the Federal government ever since the 1970 Pill hearings, but the response had been inadequate. The memorial service, and the addition of solid scientific evidence of the life-threatening risks of another form of estrogen, made the difference. Shortly after NWHN’s launch, the government required patient package inserts for all estrogen products – and women’s health improved as a result. This was only one of NWHN’s early successes. By the 1980s, there were more women doctors, safer contraceptives, national regulations safeguarding women against sterilization abuse, policies establishing women’s right to have their baby’s father in the delivery room, and more research on a broad range of women’s health concerns.

Now, 35 years later, we’ve taken on even more challenges – ensuring high-quality health care is available to everyone, for example, and challenging medical and cultural assumptions about menopause. But we’ve never stopped working on contraception and, although we are proud of the many improvements in established methods and the appearance of some new methods, we know our work is still badly needed.

This newsletter issue reflects that aspect of NWHN’s work in our 35th year. Women still need a wider range of safe and effective contraceptive methods that fit their lives’ unique circumstances, including those unfortunate times when the need for contraception emerges after the fact. Amy Allina’s article, “Sex & Science at the FDA”, is an activist’s account of the political tussles emergency contraception has faced in securing the FDA’s stamp of approval. We invited Dr. Mark Hathaway to write an opinion piece about the Pill’s 50th birthday, and are delighted to share the perspective of a supportive clinician. Finally, I very much enjoyed reading and reviewing In Our Control, Laura Eldridge’s enlightening and entertaining report on 21st century contraceptive choices. 

These articles illustrate how much work remains to fully accomplish the vision of NWHN’s founders: a world where all women have access to the resources needed to support their own good health; medical care is responsive to the needs of diverse women and accessible to everyone; and services are provided based on what works and what meets the individual patient’s needs. We’re not there yet, but we’re committed to continuing the work, even if it takes another 35 years.