Women eventually rejected Norplant because they were more informed; they compared the pros and cons of the various birth control methods on the market, and found that Norplant had more severe side effects. Initially, especially before the 1950s, birth control methods were illegal in most states save for the use of condoms and diaphragm. It was common to find women with many children. According to several narrations in the Pill, most women got married when they were still in college or immediately after they left college (The Pill, 2003). Additionally, a large portion of women got pregnant before they even reached twenty years. To a large extent, the many children whom the women would bear impeded the women’s social and economic progress.
Before the development of birth control methods, most women were housewives. They would stay at home and only act in subordinate capacities to their husbands. They would take care of the children and make the home comfortable for their husbands and children. Although some women were educated, it would be difficult to progress in their careers because of the constant impediments of pregnancies. It would not make much economic sense for employers to hire a woman who gets frequent pregnancies; the company or firm would witness workflow disruptions. Nevertheless, the Pill would come at a great relief for many women. Women would avoid unwanted pregnancies, plan families, and advance in their careers. Therefore, birth control paved way to a rise in elite women, who were aware of their rights and had time to pursue them.
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Activists and critics of the Dalkon Shield and the Pill mainly complained about the frequency with which the contraceptives were to be used by women. For instance, women needed to take the Pill at least every day. Secondly, the Pill had high levels of estrogen, which was linked to triggering of cancer cells. However, Norplant had lower levels of estrogen, which were released slowly into the bloodstream over a five year period (Watkins, 2010). Therefore, for Norplant, women were only required to have the implant administered only once in a five year period. On the positive side, it was the best method for people who had busy lifestyles and were likely to forget to take the Pill. One prominent advantage was that it was more expensive; hence people with lower incomes would not buy or use it.
The black communities perceived Norplant as a covert attempt to control their population growth, and even wipe them from the United States. The reason is that campaigns for the use of the birth control method were highly promoted among black communities (Watkins, 2010). Some schools administered the implants on black teenage girls who were at risk of getting unwanted pregnancies. Secondly, one concern among the black communities was that the campaign was not as widespread and vigorous among white suburb schools. Therefore, the suspicion was that the government was deliberately trying to reduce the population of African Americans, while encouraging the growth of the white majority population.
Conclusively, the tests carried out in Puerto Rico helped shape the perceptions of black communities about Norplant. Puerto Rico was overpopulated in the 1950’s and most likely, the objective was to try and reduce or control that population (The Pill, 2003). Similarly, if birth control campaigns were widespread in black communities, then at least according to the common opinion at the time, the intention was to control the population growth of the blacks. The United States with its past history of racial discrimination, both apparent and systemic, helped reinforce the common opinion that a black genocide was bound to happen through the use of Norplant and other birth control techniques.
References
The Pill. (2003). https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/pill/#transcript
Watkins, E. S. (2010). From breakthrough to bust: the brief life of Norplant, the contraceptive implant. Journal of women's history , 22 (3), 88-111.
