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Final Paper #4: Reflection
Lindsey Wagner
May 5, 2015
History 500
Emergency contraception, or more commonly known as “Plan B” is one of the newer medical technologies that has led to controversies in regards to American culture, and reproductive politics. It also has been commonly deemed the ‘morning after pill’ emphasizing a women’s sexuality in relation to decisions that impact her life beyond the realm of just her sexual choices but childbearing, medical bills, raising a child etc. Once again women are caught between cultural norms and personal decisions when issues of their sexuality are questioned on national scales. Emergency contraception can be used in cases of unprotected or unwanted sex and can be taken orally to prevent fertilization or implantation of an embryo into the women’s uterus depending on the stage of her cycle she would be in at the time of taking Plan B. Due to the nature of the contraceptive and at what time it was administered, it is often argued that it is an
‘abortion pill’ because it can terminate a pregnancy in the instance the embryo was already implanted. Calling into question personhood, biological development, and sensitive circumstances, Plan B from the start has been an emotional and controversial issue that fuels the debates regarding access and legality of contraception. After being exposed to fifteen weeks of relatable information, and asking to comprehend and question the reasoning behind the information presented, I have developed and refined my own understanding of how products like emergency contraception factor into the larger social, political and global contexts of the present day world.
Reflecting back to fifteen weeks ago, I will admit that the approach I had towards the information and knowledge I had been exposed to is not what expected to encounter in this class.
I firmly believed that women without question, or invasion of their privacy should have the legal

2 of 4 right to access and decide how to use contraception and other reproduction services. However, the basis of my beliefs originally was built on the arguments of feminists, pro-choice reasons and didn’t have much depth beyond personal reasons. Although I still regard these views as viable and socially important, my perspective has matured and developed to a point that acknowledges an academic foundation, one that has been fostered through the various books, articles and other scholarly sources I read during the semester. Two of the most essential readings that I found most captivating was the John Sharpless reading, “ World Population Growth, Family Planning, and American Foreign Policy
” and “ How the Pill became a Lifestyle Drug” by Elizabeth
Watkins. Both redefined how biomedical contraceptives like Plan B have been manipulated via advertising or public policy with the intention to convey a certain message about cultural or political norms of the country. With exposure to these academic sources, I have been able to develop my opinions beyond personal beliefs, and relate it to economic, political, and cultural relationships that extend beyond the boundaries of my personal upbringing.
The history of Plan B is relatively recent, but the timeline of the relationship between contraception and fertility has been pertinent to people since identifying the repercussions of sexual activity. As vehicles of childbearing, and the gender that has often surrendered themselves to the responsibilities of childcare, women have been the central focus of sexual culture, in terms of reproduction and fertility. Women were the ones who demanded remedies and pushed for change. However, it was often society, or politically motivated intentions that allowed for such advances. For example, both Margaret Sanger and Katherine McCormick advocated for the widespread distribution and research for contraception, but it was under policies relating to population control, eugenics, or economic gains that birth control became more widely accepted.
There were also Victorian era norms that enforced patriarchal society, in addition the idea that

3 of 4 women aren’t supposed to be sexual beings, only added to the difficulty of disassociating women’s personal choices from constructed rulings. Yet, there have been historical gains such as the sexual revolution during the 1960’s which has encouraged freedom and acceptance of women’s sexual behaviors. In context of historical and cultural events detrimental—the
Victorian era beliefs, population control— or progressive —like the sexual revolution and the
Affordable Care Act—historical developments have contributed to a larger subjective understanding of how modern day medical technologies like Plan B are perceived by the larger
American public.
Creating an academic understanding of biomedical developments like Plan B from personal beliefs has exposed me to a plethora of knowledge. As a result, I am bound to ask more questions relating to the subject. Now that I have sharpened my understanding of the micro and macro ramifications of contraceptives, I become curious about things that I haven’t identified before. For instance, if Plan B is the only form of accessible birth control, how does this affect a women’s economic situations and sexual interactions ? Demographically, are minority women given the same access to this emergency contraceptive as white women? Is the high price of Plan
B an economic punishment for women having unplanned or unprotected sex? The answers to these questions are neither one-dimensional or easy to answer, and span across multiple fields, ultimately resulting in multiple answers. As a result, the way in which contraception is portrayed, manipulated and marketed across those fields is dependent on larger cultural norms. Plan B is just one of the many facets that make up the contraceptive debate and will continue to play a major part in the relationships between women, medical developments and the legality of it under the United States government. In relation to a long standing contraceptive movement, the recent development of Plan B is in its infancy stage, and we will have to wait several decades

4 of 4 until we can see how the social, cultural and political implications that emerge from integrating emergency contraception into a larger reproductive relationship.