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In the '60s, it was
incredibly liberating to have

the pill at your disposal.

It changed so much.

It allowed women to take
in their own hands control

of their fertility.

It literally has revolutionized
the ability of women to work.

It completely changed
women's ability

to pursue whatever
their dreams were.

The pill.

The pill.

Don't forget
to take your pill.

I won't.

The pill is elevated as this
great liberator that ushered

in the sexual revolution.

Now women can have sex
without being found out that

they're sexually active because
they can control whether they

are ovulating or not.

It was revolutionary
at the time.

You couldn't just go to your
doctor and get a diaphragm.

You have to be married.

And women couldn't negotiate
power in their relationships.

But today is a
different context.

Today an estimated 12 million
American women use the pill.

And about 80% will
use it at some point

in their reproductive lives.

The pill was FDA approved
to be used for a short time,

now we have people taking
the pill for decades.

We've known since the
'60s that it's having effects

on our metabolism, on our
bone density, on our mood,

and on our libido.

I can't believe that we don't
have better options for birth

control.

They all drive me crazy.

And it has like three
pages of side effects.

I can't believe that they
release a product with three

pages of side effects.

I'm like, go back.

It's not ready.

I've tried five different
kinds of birth control pills.

Every single one of them
has made me suicidal.

If I didn't understand what
was going on with my body

and I kept taking it, who
knows what would have happened.

The revolution that started
with a simple pill has become

a multibillion-dollar business.

We're looking to medical
technology for liberation.

And that means
whatever contraceptive

comes on the market, we're going
to embrace it and defend it.

Birth control
is here to stay.

Ho, ho, hey, hey--

It's really difficult to
have a conversation about

the downsides of hormonal
contraception when it's under

attack.

Birth control, it's
so inextricably tied

into our freedom as women.

But at what cost?

Only half the story
is being told.

So are you currently
on birth control pills?

Yes.

And which ones
have you tried?

I've tried the
pill and the shot.

But do you remember what
brand you used for the pill?

No.

I don't even know
what I'm on now.

I was put on it by
my doc, my physician

because of my irregularity
in my periods and my cycle.

Did he explain to
you how the pill works.

No.

I mean, it was basically
just take the pill until you get

to the week where
you have the placebo.

And you can take them if
you want or you don't.

And that's just when
you're menstruating.

And that was all the information
I ever really got about it.

It was like, it's a given.

It's like you take it
because that's what you do.

We've started this
organization because really we

thought the menstrual cycle
was a vital sign because of how

much it can tell you
about your body's health.

I didn't have conversations
like this when I was growing up.

Nobody told me like anything
that was going to be happening.

It was quite a surprise.

And I think a lot of
people had that experience.

We have this
beautiful, intrinsic,

innate blueprint that
is synced to nature.

It's synced to
circadian rhythms.

It starts in our brain,
in our hypothalamus,

runs through our pituitary,
goes through our ovaries.

And it's cyclic.

It's not a steady state.

Ideally, when our hormones
are in their natural flow,

those hormones change
our emotional milieu.

They change how we feel.

They change our
experience of the world.

In a normal menstrual
cycle, there are brain hormones

communicating to the ovaries.

And that's how we orchestrate
ovulation and this really

symphony of your
menstrual cycle.

But on hormonal
birth control, you

put the entire system on mute.

You're blocking
the text messages.

So there's some
dude texting you.

You don't want to hear
from him and you block it.

So your ovaries
just get shut down.

You're switching off your
own ovaries and you're replacing

them with these two chemicals.

What do these hormonal
contraceptives contain?

They contain synthetic estrogen
and/or synthetic progestin.

It works by
suppressing ovulation.

That way an egg isn't released.

Although a lot of women
are told that it's regulating

your cycle or it's like your
body thinks it's pregnant,

none of those things are
actually what's going on.

You're not getting
a period when you're

taking hormonal birth control.

It's a withdrawal bleed.

Typically in that pill
pack, it will have three weeks

of synthetic hormones and then
one week or so of bleeding.

And people call that
time a withdrawal bleed.

They don't consider
it to be like a period

because when you stop taking
the synthetic hormone,

it acts like that
drop in hormones

that you see with
the menstruation.

This idea that we've
been sold by pharmaceutical

companies that you should
just take the pill and get rid

of your hormones is really
incomplete and potentially

dangerous.

Did you know?

Did you know?

Did you know that when
you're on a birth control pill,

there is no medical need
to have a monthly period?

Like other birth control pills--

They're marketed as something
called lifestyle drugs,

a really powerful hormonal
synthetic cocktail.

It sounds really nice and fun,
like it's going to fix my acne

or it's going to fix
my period or it's

going to regulate my cycle.

And what we didn't realize
is that we were turning off

this really important part
of our bodily function that

was happening every
month, which is ovulation.

The prevailing narrative is
that we don't need to ovulate

unless we want to make
a baby, which is crazy

because ovulation,
regular ovulation,

which means having a regular,
natural menstrual cycle,

is how we make our hormones
estrogen and progesterone,

which have many benefits.

To say that we don't
need to ovulate except

to make a baby would
be like saying to men,

until you're ready
for a baby, we're

just going to give you this drug
to shut down your testosterone.

That's what we do to women.

These hormones affect
our bone development.

They affect our brain.

They affect our
breast development.

They affect our risk of
cardiovascular issues

later on in life.

And it makes just no sense to
think that you could shut down

ovulation in healthy women and
it would make no difference.

We are putting younger and
younger women on birth control.

And there haven't
been studies done

on the safety of that long term
in terms of their mental health

and their reproductive health.

I'm on the pill.

I can't actually think
which one it is right now.

But it's like the one when
you take it for three weeks

and have a week off.

And I feel like I've been
on it for six months.

And I definitely feel a
bit more crazy, not crazy,

but more hormonal.

So I'm currently
taking Yasmin.

I've been taking that probably
for around seven, eight years.

Before that, I was
on a different pill

called Dianette, which
actually I didn't

have a very good experience on.

It made me massive mood
swings, feel very depressed.

I was moody.

I got fat.

I was sad.

I was bitchy and just
not a very nice person.

And then I just,
it just wasn't--

emotionally, it wasn't great.

Thanks so much for agreeing
to share your story with The

Debrief.

Tell me a bit about what's been
going on with you and the pill.

Ah, so much.

Well, when I was 17,
I went on the pill.

And--

It really all began for me
when I was about 14 or 15 and I

was first prescribed hormonal
contraception to regulate

really heavy periods.

I just didn't like how
I felt. And I couldn't

articulate that feeling.

But I knew something was wrong.

I stopped taking the pill
after about six months.

And I didn't start
taking it again

until I entered into a
serious long-term relationship

and wanted contraception.

That was when my life just
completely fell apart.

I started having
debilitating panic attacks,

to the point where I
couldn't go to work.

I couldn't leave the house.

And I was prescribed medication
for depression and anxiety

as well.

And then one night I
remember sitting in my flat.

I couldn't sleep.

I was having an anxiety attack
that had lasted for hours I

really, really, honestly,
was contemplating

ending my life because I
was sitting there thinking,

if this is what my life
is going to be like,

I don't want to live it.

This is no way to live.

And then I came
across this forum.

And I was reading post
after post after post

where women were describing
pretty much exactly what I

felt. And it was one of those
moments where you're like,

this is almost too good.

Could it be my pill?

No, surely not.

I decided without
discussing it with my doctor

to come off the pill.

Within three months, I was fine.

And now I feel like every
emotion I feel is my own.

And that really formed the heart
of the Debrief investigation,

"Mad About the Pill."

We then run a
survey on the site.

And we thought we'd get
a few responses on this.

We were overwhelmed
by the number

of Debrief readers, thousands.

Without the pill, I felt like
I gained back some clarity

and was able to
shift my thoughts

towards positive development
rather than flailing around

in my own misery.

It's so many people
saying the same thing,

like my GP didn't know.

My GP couldn't help me.

My GP didn't make
these connections.

For this many people to
want to talk about something,

it means they don't feel like
they have anywhere else to go.

And it can feel
quite isolating.

It's such a personal
thing, isn't it?

You've got to be able to
get that information from

a reliable source.

It wasn't until a study from
the University of Copenhagen

came out, authored by
Professor Lidegaard,

finding a correlation between
women suffering from depression

and anxiety and women taking
hormonal contraception.

People don't like the message
that hormonal contraception may

bring depression.

A woman should know it
could be a consequence

of her hormonal
contraceptive use

because then she
can stop that use.

A majority of women
do not get depressed.

But the denial of the
existence of that problem

implies that women are
not asked sufficiently.

When I went through
my training, I was told,

there's not a mood effect.

But I can tell you from being on
the pill myself, I can tell you

from taking care
of 25,000 women,

there is definitely
a mood effect.

And it's well demonstrated
in the literature.

Based off the
conclusions of this study,

we should actually be warning
women about the fact that they

could get depressed on the pill.

Many, many women came forward
to say, this vindicates me.

This makes me feel
like I'm not crazy.

It's not all in my head.

Once I started making those
connections for myself,

I was researching into
how this happened.

I wanted to know, the pill
could do all these things to me.

Exactly how did it do them?

And welcome back.

We're going to talk
with research professor

and psychologist Sarah Hill.

She's the author
of the new book.

It's called "This is Your
Brain on Birth Control--

The Surprising Science
of Women, Hormones,

and the Law of
Unintended Consequences."

When they're
talking about the pill,

women always talk about
how it makes them feel.

And I think that until
now, women haven't really

had an explanation for why
they're feeling that way.

I wanted to look at what role
women's sex hormones play

in orchestrating the
activities of women's brains.

And then how does all of
that change on the pill?

Taking the pill is associated
with having a dampened stress

response, particularly the
stress hormone cortisol.

It actually just makes women
less able to cope with stress.

And it can also cause
problems with things

like learning and memory.

So it can cause mood-related
symptomology that we oftentimes

see in pill-taking women,
things like depression,

things like anxiety.

And it can be associated with
even feelings of brain fog.

And so you're a different
version of yourself

when you're on
hormonal contraception

relative to the
version of yourself

that you are when
you're off of it.

Women shouldn't have to
change who they are in order

to protect themselves
from pregnancy.

And we should know
enough about the way

that our brains
and our bodies work

to know that that's exactly
what we're doing when we

go on the birth control pill.

When you look at
hormonal birth control,

there's a long laundry
list of side effects,

from anxiety and increased
risk of depression,

painful sex, low libido,
to nutrient depletion,

migraine headaches,
weight gain, insomnia,

clitoral shrinkage,
and even the impact

it has on partner attraction.

The body of knowledge
that was growing, I think,

through anecdotal reports
was that women would go off

the pill and realize that they
weren't happy with the person

that they had chosen as a mate.

There's a sweaty T-shirt study
that you can choose a good mate

based on smell.

But if you're on the pill,
that sort of mechanism

seems to be offline.

We're seeking out the mate
that will offer us the most

genetic diversity.

If you're a woman
and you've ever

smelt your partner after
they're working out the gym

and you're like, mm, that
smells so good, when they're

a little bit stinky, they're
expressing their MHC complex.

And it's giving your
brain and your entire body

data about their immune
system and about their genetic

compatibility with you.

On hormonal contraceptives,
you end up choosing somebody

who is more alike
than different.

The catchphrase became
that you end up mating

with somebody who is more like
brother and less like other.

There's millions of
women on this medication.

That literally changes
their emotions.

It changes their pheromones.

It changes their sex drive.

What is the possible
impact on the world?

You're watching
"The Breakfast Club."

Morning, everybody.

We've got some special
guests in the building.

Dr. Amun, Dr. Amsu, and Coach
Gessie, thank you very much--

I had Gessie's name right.

Thank you.

for joining us.

It is National Sexual
Health Awareness Month.

And I see you guys have these
Kill the Pill shirts on.

So let's get into.

It.

What is the pill?

What kind of pill are
y'all trying to kill?

What kinds pill we killing?

Yes.

Well, first of all, we
champion women's causes.

We've championed fibroids.

We've championed PCOS, which
is polycystic ovarian syndrome.

We've championed
endometriosis and infertility.

The number one culprit of
actually all of these issues,

the elephant in the room
is the birth control pill.

Really?

People are being told
that the pill is the greatest

invention of all time.

But it's making our women sick.

That's why we're saying kill
the pill before it kills you.

I am one of the 90% of
Black women affected by uterine

fibroids by age 50.

My grueling journey
included 12 surgeries,

five of them for fibroids
and five for complications

from those fibroids,
and even my heart

stopping on the delivery table.

But thank God when I birthed
my miracle baby, Nia,

she birthed me into
my purpose and work

as a fibroids activist.

So many women we talk with
on a daily basis will say, oh,

wait a minute, yeah, I just have
a heavy cycle or I just have

a heavy period, and not
realizing that they are

actually exhibiting symptoms
of what is the root cause

of fibroids, which is
the estrogen dominance.

It's triggered by stress,
diet, and pollutants.

Well, those chemical pollutants,
the number one culprit

was birth control,
hormonal birth controls.

OMG.

11.5 million-- I don't know if
you know this number, Angela,

but 11.5 million of us women and
girls are actually on the pill.

But 35% of the women
who are prescribed it

are prescribed it for
noncontraceptive PMS reasons.

They're being told,
you need this.

It's the only way
you're going to be

able to actually restore your--

have a normal life.

Over time, what happens with it
is that it masks your symptoms.

And then once you get off
the birth control, what

happens, we find
out, holy cow, there

have been monsters
developing in the background.

Bringing the estrogen--
I'm talking to these women

daily about birth
control causing fibroids,

causing infertility,
causing pulmonary embolism,

blood clots, where women
have lost their lives.

And we have to look
at when something

is so prevalent
and so inextricably

tied into women's lives,
why are we sicker as women?

Did you go on the birth
control pill for something

other than
controlling pregnancy?

Regulate my period, too.

I was having a lot of
issues with getting it,

not getting it.

When I was in high school,
it was recommended for my skin.

Do you remember why you
went on the birth control pill

in the first place?

For PCOS,
polycystic syndrome.

Too often I see women put
on birth control pills not

for contraception but to deal
with breakthrough bleeding

or so forth, where the doctor
never bothers to test them

first and see why
it's happening.

There's just this knee-jerk,
shoot-from-the-hip, boom,

take the birth control pill.

Birth control is
incredibly useful.

The problem is that
it's so useful,

it's being used as a
treatment for a hell

of a lot of things that aren't
keep that baby out of me.

So many women go on the
pill for something like

endometriosis, for instance,
because that is the only

solution that's really
offered now by doctors.

And, unfortunately, I
mean, it's just a Band-Aid.

It suppresses their
pain a little bit.

But, I mean, unfortunately,
I do find when a lot of them

get off of it, the
pain is right back.

1 in 10 women suffer
from endometriosis.

And it's just one of the many
painful, debilitating lady

diseases that gets treated
with birth control and a shrug.

There's also
dysmenorrhea, irregular

or excessive bleeding, and
polycystic ovary syndrome.

PCOS afflicts 1 in 10
women with symptoms

like weight gain, hair
growth, fertility problems,

and diabetes.

After three years,
this fertility specialist

on the Upper West
Side goes, yeah,

you have cysts all
over your ovaries.

And I'm like, what
does that mean?

It's like, well,
it's the leading

cause of infertility, diabetes,
and heart disease in women.

And here are more
birth control pills.

It's like finding all of your
furniture on your front lawn

and the police are
like, that's life.

Want to take the pill?

In the doctor's mind, you're
having a withdrawal bleed every

month, which they call a period.

Therefore, you're fixed.

But nobody talks to that
woman about the fact

that she's at higher
risk for diabetes.

She's at higher risk for
stroke and heart attack.

We're not setting women free.

We're setting them
up for disease.

We're setting them up
for a lot of problems.

My name is Erika, known to
you all better as Farmer Girl.

Although I'm from a
small town in Colorado,

I have had the
opportunity to travel

to many parts of the
world and the US.

In a way, I define myself,
that experience I've had,

by traveling.

We're at her home in Arizona.

And my cell phone rang.

And it was Erika's phone.

And I answered in anticipation
of our upcoming visit

from her for Thanksgiving.

And it wasn't her.

It was her boyfriend.

And he said, there's a problem.

And he had come
into the apartment

and found her on the floor.

And she was taken by ambulance.

And we later learned
that had multiple heart

attacks on her way to
the emergency room.

I was able to talk to the
emergency room doctor.

And he asked if she
was on birth control.

And I said, yes, the NuvaRing.

He said, I believe
that's the problem.

And we have pulmonary
embolisms going on here.

We were told that
she was brain dead.

And on Thanksgiving,
they pronounced her dead.

The pulmonologist took
us down the hallway and put

Erika's lungs up on
the screen and said,

this was caused by the NuvaRing.

She actually was prescribed
the NuvaRing because

of having an ovarian cyst.

And we now know that
most ovarian cysts

resolve themselves anyway.

Our daughter was really strong.

And if she knew
what we now know,

she would be right
here doing this

because she would be
incensed at what's

going on at the expense of
women's health unnecessarily.

Every day that goes
by, we know there's

girls out there that are
not informed and, therefore,

at risk.

We want to do whatever
we can to help inform.

When I was buying
these magazines,

I would buy all of them.

Of course, the checker
would ask me, are you in it?

Why are you buying it?

I just tell them,
my daughter died

because of this birth control.

I show them the article.

Actually, the very first day
that I bought it, one checker

said that she just started
taking it about a month ago

and she said she has some pain
right at the top of her thigh.

So I told her she needs
to go in right now.

I handed her to the magazine
right then and there.

Brittany kept it
in the original bag

that she got from
Planned Parenthood.

And she hid it underneath the
cheese in the refrigerator

so her dad wouldn't see it.

So it's been in
there ever since.

They look like a
condom with the foil.

But down on the bottom it says,
"doesn't protect against HIV."

Well, what about a black
warning label that says,

"could cause death"?

Here goes Brittany.

Hi.

Show me a trick.

I was just like, ah.

We just kind of got
ready in her bedroom.

And we went out to a club.

I remember when we first walked
in she said how loud it was.

She said it was so loud.

We all love to dance.

And she's like, I don't
feel like dancing.

And I just thought it was really
weird because we've always

gone out to dance.

And then she felt like
her heart was racing.

I was like, maybe she's
having an anxiety attack.

And then all of a sudden,
she's sitting there

and her eyes kind of roll back.

And she just, like
she kind of hits us.

I remember calling 911.

Right when we got to the
hospital, I called my mom.

And I just said,
what happened?

And she goes, "Mom,
just come out."

I get a call
from the head nurse.

And she tells me that Brittany
came in without a heartbeat

and that she was
bleeding from the lungs.

They said we could
come in and see her.

But there were so many people--

trying to save her.

And they said her lungs
were hemorrhaging.

They couldn't get it to stop.

They didn't know
what was the matter.

Maybe she was drugged
or she had a disease.

I kept saying,
no medications.

And my mom's like, well,
yeah, she's on medication.

She's on birth control.

And I'm like, oh, I didn't
even think about that.

So we prayed.

We hoped for miracles.

But they did another brain scan.

And the doctor came and told
us that Brittany was gone.

Then we had to tell the
family that Brittany

was no longer going to be
with us, that we had lost her.

I started doing some research.

And I find out that there's
thousands of lawsuits

against Merck for this product.

I mean, thousands of
lawsuits and the product's

still on the market?

I don't understand how all
this stuff works, right?

But I can't believe this.

I'm told that I should
file a report with the FDA.

So I file that.

I wait about a month.

And I don't hear anything back.

So I decide to
call them one day.

And I call.

And I got transferred around.

And I finally got in touch
with a very nice woman

who said, unfortunately,
we don't have much funding.

We don't have enough funding
to respond to all of these.

And I said, but
my daughter died.

Don't you want to know more
about why my daughter died?

I'm not antigovernment
or anti-FDA.

But when I found this out,
I was like, what do you do?

The pill-- millions of
words have been written

for and against it, for this
little white tablet is more

explosive than dynamite.

It's the most controversial
pill ever produced.

Scientifically, it's a
dramatic step forward

in the control of nature.

In the middle of World War
I, there emerged for the first

time a real campaign to
legalize contraception.

And the key figure in
that was Margaret Sanger.

She was a visiting nurse.

And she saw firsthand
the costs of lack

of control over pregnancy
and reproduction.

She does this service
in some ways, right,

where women have bodily autonomy
and control around their own

fertility.

But it comes about because of
her belief in a science that

promulgates white supremacy.

Eugenics, it's a
scientific way to rid

society of those who are seen
as less valuable members.

I think the greatest sin in
the world is bringing children

into the world that have
disease from their parents,

that have no chance in the
world to be a human being,

practically.

Delinquents, prisoners,
all sorts of things,

it's just marked
when they're born.

Sanger immediately saw the
possibility of an alliance with

the eugenicists.

Sanger is a pragmatist.

She is willing to work with
different organizations

in order to get birth
control as a common practice.

And so as she gains
more prominence,

Planned Parenthood materializes.

And the time that she should
be thinking about retirement,

she is steadily working to
get investors and people who

are willing to do
the kind of research

to create a pill that women can
use without the consent of men.

But it comes about
at the expense

of a group of already
oppressed people.

The trial that they used
to get the pill approved was

a trial in Puerto Rico.

And only 132 women had taken the
pill for 12 consecutive months.

It was that whole mentality
of let's find a way to get

the FDA to approve this.

They're not going to do it here.

Let's go to Puerto
Rico because they're

having population issues and
they're living in poverty.

You have a population
where doctors say, hey,

these women have been clamoring
for the ability to be able

to control their fertility.

That's true.

But they didn't know about
the possibilities of the side

effects.

Five women died on the trial.

One of the five
deaths was a suicide.

And, of course,
they said that had

nothing to do with the pill.

So when the drug companies
presented the findings

to the FDA, they
omitted things that

weren't comfortable to them.

They included things
that were comfortable.

And a lot of it came
out after the fact.

Women were taking this
pill in more and more numbers.

Over the course of
the first decade,

the uptake was incredible.

But women had really
severe side effects.

Enovid, the first pill,
had a very high level

of synthetic estrogen.
And it caused women

to have a lot of really
serious physical side effects

as well as things
like depression.

It wasn't very long when
the first blood clot came out,

'63, the first case
report of a heart attack.

Most of the things that are
done to us are done without

our real informed consent.

I think that our rights
are violated all the time

by most doctors.

Barbara Seaman
wrote this book,

"The Doctor's Case
Against the Pill."

She wanted to interview medical
professionals about the pill

and see it from
their perspective.

What were the
dangers of the pill?

More and more women were
taking this medication.

And those numbers were
growing so rapidly.

What could that
mean going forward?

And that book was
really a catalyst

for what we now see as the
Women's Health Movement.

I moved to DC in '69.

It was just a hotbed of
stuff happening there.

We had a collective of women
called DC Women's Liberation.

We had an office.

We would meet every day.

We all had side
effects on the pill.

I, for instance,
had had hair loss.

And I said to my doctor at the
time, who was a man, of course,

I said, could this be--

could this be
related to the pill?

No.

One day, eight of us
were sitting around

at one of our endless
meetings, saying

tomorrow there's
supposedly hearings

on the Hill about the pill.

We said, well, let's go.

In those days, you could
get into Senate hearings.

Gaylord Nelson was a Senator
in Wisconsin and had been given

a copy of Barbara Seaman's book,
which spurred him to sponsor

the Nelson Pill Hearings.

Barbara Seaman called
it the Boston Tea Party

of the Women's Health Movement.

The women in this country
are consuming oral contraceptive

medications in the belief
that they are considered safe

by the American Food
and Drug Administration.

We have young women having
strokes from abnormal clots

in arteries.

We were sitting
in the audience.

And we're seeing all
these men are testifying.

And they're talking
about people dying.

First we raised our hands.

And nobody called on us.

Then we just stood up
and started yelling.

How long am I going to
have to sit here listening

to the terrible effects of these
pills on women without hearing

from a single woman?

I want to know where the
drug companies' research

studies are.

Why do they all know that they
have many adverse side effects

that it's taken 10 years for
you to begin to bring out?

You say no significant
effects on lactation.

Does that mean to the
mother of the child?

Well, now if you would
be quiet a moment, I'm--

We've been quite for--

We've been quiet
for a long time.

Quiet?

We are not going to
sit quietly any longer.

You are murdering us for
your profit and convenience.

The committee will decide
who the witnesses will be.

And we are trying to take the
best scientific testimony we

can get of those
who know the most

about the effects of the pill.

Ask women.

Ask women.

I know that I was not warned.

I know that I was told
that they were safe.

All right, now I'm going
to proceed with the hearings.

I don't want to be dis--

Well, we'll also proceed
with our questioning then.

Officer, we will-- we will--

You're going to take women,
you're going to drag women out

of this hearing whose
lives are at stake.

That's a fine way
to run something.

It got an enormous
amount of publicity.

This hearing is supposed
to be about informed consent,

as I was just told, which
is an amazing thing to me

because none of us,
not only did we not--

were we not told of the
dangers of the pill.

When we came in
with problems, when

we came in with side
effects, we were

told to go on using the pill.

So this is the
transcripts of the hearing?

Yeah.

Through Bernie
Sanders' office,

the transcripts were photocopied
and were released through

the Freedom of Information Act.

They knew much of what we
should know and should have

paid attention to prior to
it coming to the market.

They knew it already.

Do you consider the
hazards potential or real?

Well, some of the
hazards are real.

They knew about the
effects on metabolism.

They knew about effects on mood.

They had evidence of
some suicides and deaths

in the research, in
the original trials.

We had a lot of evidence back
then of all these effects.

And our position is that
the oral contraceptives are

an effective and safe
method of birth control.

It was the American Medical
Association with the drug

manufacturers that decided
what the risk was and what it

wasn't.

It was really kind of
a turning point in such

that they allowed the industry
to dictate the safety, what

was safe and what was not.

I expected to see
all the medical stuff.

But when I got to
the parts where

doctors are talking
about basically changing

the benefit-to-risk paradigm to
get it approved because it was

the benefit to society versus
the risk to the individual,

that blew me away.

Every pharmaceutical
company does that.

You hear that all the
time, benefit versus risk.

And nobody ever says benefit
to who versus my risk?

Right.

Right.

A delegation from the Women's
Liberation Movement visited

Senator Gaylord Nelson.

They complained that Nelson's
investigation of birth control

pill safety did not call women
who take the pill or women

doctors and researchers.

What happened as a result of
our persistence was the first

patient package insert of
a prescription medication.

What we had envisioned in
the beginning with something

that would be on the
back of the pill packet

and give six warning signs,
not such a long, lengthy thing.

But we didn't win.

The lawyers got a hold of it.

A good way to put it.

The lawyers got a
hold of it, yes.

Ultimately, there was a
win for the feminist health

movement in that
we got labeling.

And that was copied
throughout the industry.

We didn't really
have drug labels

with all that fine print telling
us what the possible side

effects might be.

But the label that
they went with really

focused on blood clots and
left everything else off

of that fine print.

At this clinic in Washington
and clinics like it all over

the country, millions of
women started taking the pill

and they had unprecedented
freedom from unwanted

pregnancies.

This is the symbolic
representation of state

government intervention, not
just have you had your pill,

but everything that the
birth control pill conotates

and represents for
an urban population.

The relationship between
medicine, particularly

reproductive medicine,
and women's bodies

is a long and complicated,
oftentimes troubling history.

Historically, Black
enslaved women were used

for experimentation to move
ahead modern gynecology that we

see today.

They had these slave
hospitals where they would

treat the pathologies of
Black women so they could save

the lives of white women.

And so by the time you move
from the late 19th century

to the mid 20th century, you
have doctors who are getting

the OK from the government to be
able to perform surgeries that

essentially sterilize
Black women.

In the South, Civil Rights
leader Fannie Lou Hamer

talked about being a
young woman in the 1950s

and going in for a procedure.

And, all of a
sudden, she finds out

she has a Mississippi
appendectomy.

She was essentially
sterilized by the doctor,

who had never told her.

She was told she was having
the tubes tied and that she

could have undone
whatever she wanted.

She asked to have the undone.

And now they told her that
her tube, it was not tied.

It was clipped, which gives
her a lesser possibility of her

ever becoming pregnant.

I think it's wrong for anyone
to go into these things without

fully knowing what
the possibilities.

So I think that people try to
make you pay for being poor

and make you pay for
being glad and then--

And being a woman.

As women of color, our
fertility has always been

managed.

It's always been fear based.

We had Indigenous women
that were also sterilized.

In the '60s in
Los Angeles, there

were immigrant Mexican
women that were also

sterilized at the USC center.

So we see these different
cases being repeated.

By the '80s and the '90s,
all of a sudden in places like

Harlem, in places like Detroit,
you start to see that Black

women who receive aid from
the government being told,

you can't live in
government housing anymore.

We are not going to give
you food stamps for you

and your children
unless you agree

to get on a LARC,
long-acting contraceptive.

And so all of a sudden,
you have these women

who have Norplant implanted.

And they're suffering
the consequences

of these side effects.

And they don't know how
to take the implants out.

Here you have women who are,
essentially, once again,

being used as guinea pigs.

And so although
they've been informed,

what's the actual
choice when someone's

telling you that your
economic livelihood is

going to be affected?

It turns them off
from getting health care.

It does.

If you need health care, you
don't even want to go get it

if you have to go through
all those hassles.

I have to be pushed by my
mother to go because I refused.

I mean, I really
refused to go over

there and be hassled and
looked upon like I'm nobody.

I am somebody.

I may not have that much
money, but I am somebody.

I'm me.

That's right.

I think that wound
is still around.

I think the wound is still
actually being scraped over

as newer and newer and newer
iterations of contraception

come about.

Oh, hey.

Did I tell you?

My doctor told me about this
new low-dose birth control

pill called Yaz.

Yaz was the first oral
contraceptive to win FDA

approval not just for preventing
pregnancy but for treating acne

and the severe
premenstrual symptoms.

Yaz can also help when
it comes to that time

of the month.

What's unique about Yaz is
that this was the first time

that commercials
stepped onto the scene,

promising us better health
beyond just controlling

your reproductive health.

This hormonal birth control
could solve all your lady part

problems.

Proven to treat the emotional
and physical premenstrual

symptoms that are severe.

But the ads actually promised
much more than what the FDA had

approved it for.

It started the summer
she came home from college.

We took her to my gynecologist
to discuss birth control

options.

She said she put
me on the new pill.

And this is going to be
great because not only is

this protection
against pregnancy,

but it's going to
prevent against PMS.

And it's going to
help with my acne.

This was the miracle pill.

She was returning
with her groceries,

walking up to the third floor
of her apartment building.

She collapsed on the
second floor level.

A very large clot had broken
loose somewhere from her lower

extremities and had
gone to her heart.

You ask yourself, why does
something like this happen?

And we spoke with
our friends who

we were staying with
whose sister happened

to be a physician.

The first thing she said
to us was, was she on Yaz?

And we said no.

She wasn't on Yaz.

But we found out that Loryna
was a generic version of Yaz.

The problem is that it's the
fourth-generation progesterone

called drospirenone.

And drospirenone,
for some reason,

has a much higher
risk for a blood clot

and stroke and
pulmonary embolism

than the previous
generation pills.

The earlier generations
went off patent.

So there wasn't a lot of
money to be made there.

If they came out with a new
generation, a new progestin,

that was considered
a brand drug.

It was not a generic drug.

They would then have
patent protection.

And they could then charge more
so that the company could say,

I have something better.

But better doesn't always
mean that it's safer.

The FDA approves drugs only
for a short period of time,

like six weeks for
acute use of the drug.

And it's up to the
manufacturer to report

any adverse reactions.

So what manufacturer who's
making billions of dollars

has any incentive to
report an adverse reaction?

65% of a pharmaceutical
company's budget is

on advertising.

It's on marketing.

It's not on research
and development.

It's not on safety studies.

Who says all birth control
pills have to be the same?

Who says?

And that's usually where
the problem is happening.

I mean, it's at that level of
the pharmaceutical industry

of let's ignore the risks.

Let's give women what they
want or think they want.

Or let's sell them something
that they might not even

know they want or need.

It's all about the bottom line.

It's one of the most popular
pills on the market today.

But our reporting
suggests that using it

can increase the risk of
dangerous side effects

that may even cause death.

Research shows the pills
are linked with a higher risk

for blood clots.

So the FDA is stepping
in, holding a hearing

to talk about these
health concerns.

The twofold increase in
risk for venous thromboembolism

in drospirenone is deemed an
acceptable risk and has been

deemed an acceptable
risk in the past.

Planned Parenthood was
speaking in favor of keeping

the products on the market
because of this notion that

the more options we
have, the better.

But why is our risk tolerance
so high for something

that is preventive,
that is going to impact,

for all intents and purposes,
healthy individuals?

Our daughter died from Yaz.

Study after study,
including the FDA study,

have shown for years that
DSRP kills and seriously harms

significantly more women than
other birth control pills.

Internal company documents
stated there was an increased

risk of blood clots.

But that statement was
not passed on to the FDA.

They downplayed the bad news
that showed safety problems

and highlighted the good news.

And in my opinion, what
made this problematic

was that they marketed
the drug saying

that it worked for PMS
without the evidence,

thereby convincing
women to switch

to a potentially more dangerous
and more expensive drug.

Had all this information
come to my desk,

I do not think that I would
have approved this drug.

The Kessler report was
not allowed to be given

to the panel based
on a technicality.

After testimony, the
panel voted 15 to 11

to keep the products
on the market.

It was later revealed that
4 out of the 15 panelists

who voted Yes had ties to Bayer
that they hadn't disclosed.

We used to
believe in the FDA.

We used to.

But we don't anymore.

The more we learn
about it, the more

we realize that
the drug companies

pay to get their drugs through.

They have one interest in mind.

And that is making money.

Bayer had put aside
money to cover

the costs of the litigation
in the United States.

And the settlements that they
had expected, over $500 million

in order to cover that.

And the result of that
was their stockholders

said, yeah, you got it covered.

Your stocks went up.

And so the question
is, is the FDA

promoting the safety of
the American people or

are they promoting the safety of
drug company and medical device

company profits?

Now, chances are you've
quickly skimmed the warning

label of potential side effects
without thinking about it that

much.

But in the case of
22-year-old Brittany,

that warning label
became a tragic reality.

Nothing will
ever fill that void.

I understand that.

And I know that NuvaRing came
out and offered a settlement

with families that
have been hurt by this.

What's your involvement
in the NuvaRing lawsuit?

We don't want their money.

We want them to do what's right.

We want them to fully
disclose the risks associated

with this product.

The FDA told us, "Based
on the FDA's review,

which included several studies
looking at the blood clot risk

associated with NuvaRing, we
believe that the current label

appropriately addresses this
risk and includes information

about the product that will
allow patients and health-care

professionals to make an
informed medical decision."

I'm going to have
to find it for you.

But it's just a tiny--

Can we stop for a minute?

Oh, OK.

It doesn't matter.

OK, because it's going
to take me a bit to--

Who would read that?

It's probably not
bad if you do keep

rolling because you'll
see how freakin'

long it takes to look
through all this stuff.

It talks about if you smoke
may be associated with a higher

risk of venous
thromboembolism, VTE,

than COCs containing
the progestin thevo--

I can't even understand this.

I understand what it's saying
now because it's happened.

This needs to have a big old
label right on the front.

Like cigarettes say
"this can kill you,"

this needs to say
the same thing.

One popular birth control
method is being blamed by some

families in a lawsuit for
the deaths of loved ones.

Merck has agreed to pay
out $100 million to the many

plaintiffs.

But Langhart's family
is refusing the offer.

They are pushing for
a black box warning,

which means you could
die from using it.

The FDA doesn't think
it is necessary.

If we can have a few
minutes for questions,

so why don't we just kind of go
back and forth and we'll start.

And if you could say your
name and where you're from,

that would be great.

Thanks.

Karen Langhart.

Together with a
growing, unfortunately,

number of parents, the question
we have for you is this.

If your daughter died as a
result of pulmonary embolisms,

stroke, or heart attack
because of the NuvaRing,

would you still
consider this drug

as having an acceptable
risk factor, and especially

and particularly when there
are safer and more effective

alternative options
for birth control?

Well, first of all, I want
to express our most sincere

sympathy for the
loss of a child.

I can only imagine
how difficult that is.

You can't, actually.

Well, NuvaRing is like
all hormonal-containing

contraceptives.

And it was labeled with
warnings about thrombophlebitis

and pulmonary embolism,
as is the whole category.

This has been known
for a long time.

And we feel that the
drug has been labeled--

was labeled appropriately.

This is not a
ridiculous low risk.

If people knew that, how
many would put their daughter

on a pill if she had
2% risk of getting

a thrombosis in 10 years?

The drug companies push the
statistic that says that these

types of drugs are
safer than pregnancy.

That in itself is
a huge problem.

What they ought to be
using is the comparison

between these types of drugs
and other forms of birth control

because there are safer
forms of birth control

than these third-generation
hormonal-based birth control

pills.

And I think that's a crime.

When is a product so risky
that it really shouldn't be

an option?

Birth control
is here to stay.

Happy birthday ACA.

The left will not consider
the possibility that there are

any dangers associated with
hormonal contraceptives

because it damages the push
for reproductive access

and reproductive care.

And that's important.

Women should have that.

But women are dying.

And I think women
are smart enough.

If you gave them
the information,

they'd say yes or no.

I still haven't heard a
response about the Yaz drug

or about NuvaRing and about how
it's wrecking women's bodies

by putting synthetic hormones
in them that men, by the way,

don't want to take, right?

But by the same token,
the right comes along

because they're so against
reproductive access that

if the left says anything, the
right takes it and warps it.

And you have this
continual escalation

of no one talking about what
needs to be talked about

and everybody entrenched
in their own sides.

I hear from Lila and people
like Lila that their ultimate

intent is to actually decrease
the number of abortions.

And yet we're blocking
all of the things

that we know actually
do allow women

to make informed
choices on the front end

and prevent unintended
pregnancies.

And so by
maintaining that fight,

it puts a veil over what can be
known or talked about in that

space.

We can bring more chairs
over here, more of these chairs.

So we're The Fifth
Vital Sign, Emily and I.

And we've been traveling
for six weeks now.

We have another six weeks to go.

And we're--

Somewhere.

We're teaching these free
reproductive health classes

in 63 locations, over 63
locations along the way.

And our mission is
to use education

as preventative care,
encouraging informed decision

making and body literacy.

I just want to really
focus on the way that we teach

fertility awareness method
because it's so secular.

And then I want to focus
on the informed choice

aspect as a toolkit and
then bring in these things.

Continue on I-10
East for 10 miles.

We've driven more
than England already.

It's nuts.

We felt like we couldn't
really speak about this stuff

unless we went to as many places
as we could in this country

and heard what people
were going through.

We would love if people
left the classes with knowledge

about their menstrual cycles.

But the most
important thing to us

is that people know
that they have options.

We want to move away from
fear-based education.

Oh yeah.

We could say, "We
recommend body literacy.

We recommend knowing
you're normal.

We recommend choosing
what's right for you."

In a quarter mile,
turn right on to--

Yes.

Do you mind?

You can send it from my phone.

Every time.

Every time.

Thanks for having my back.

Hey.

Hi.

There's this idea that you
can get pregnant any time.

Part of dispelling some of that
fear and part of addressing it

is just looking at
what's actually there.

So that kind of brings me to
fertility awareness method.

The fertility awareness-based
methods are observational.

They're based on what's
actually happening

in your body in any given cycle.

It's sort of advanced sex ed.

How does my body work?

What is this stuff
coming out of me?

How many days per
month am I fertile?

How long does an egg live?

Each and every morning,
I take my temperature.

And I circle the
temperature on this graph.

And we connect the dots.

When I do finally ovulate, my
temperature spikes noticeably.

And that's one of the
signs you're looking for.

You're also monitoring
fluids that you're producing.

So everything should
correlate when

you're plotting all this info.

It gives you a lot more
control over your body

rather than relying on a
big pharmaceutical company

for something to
prevent pregnancy.

With perfect use, meaning
if somebody would take

their temperature every
day, check their cervix,

look at their cervical fluid
every day and record it

perfectly, then it
can be 99% accurate.

You're only fertile
for four or five days,

six days out of 32-day cycle.

When I discovered that I
can't get pregnant every single

day of my cycle, it
totally blew my mind.

And I felt in my case, it really
put the power in my hands.

To me, the most feminist
approach to the conversation

around contraceptives
period is options.

And I think if young women were
learning about their cycles

not from a contraceptive lens
but from an empowerment lens,

we could see a lot of
different things happening.

This is a conference that
is very, very long overdue.

There really is
so much that needs

to be understood about
contraceptives that we

could fill an entire week
of lectures and discussions.

What I keep coming back
to, however, is the notion

that if I can teach you how
to think about hormones,

then each of you can
find your own answers

and perhaps contribute
back to the knowledge base

so that we can all have a better
understanding of these issues.

Nice to meet you.

Thank you for coming.

Well, thank you
for what your--

your research is incredible.

Everything you do.

I highlighted more than I
didn't highlight of the things

you--

of the things you wrote.

This is the first time
I have been to something

like this with other parents.

People are beginning to hear it
and beginning to understand it.

We've been collaborating with
Karen and Rick and with Michael

and Jane Alexander to figure
out, how do we spread the word?

It's going to be a
very big challenge.

The system just protects
the pharmaceuticals

so well that it's tough
to get anything done.

To get anything in front of
FDA is extremely difficult.

So we're just trying
to figure out now

how we can make a difference.

So you see deaths,
hospitalization,

and then the amount
of prescriptions.

Yeah, I actually
have some graphs.

But I just didn't
include them here.

So I wanted to give--

This is fantastic.

Just fact finding, right?

Yes, it's just
digging through.

And this is stuff
that should have been

readily available to anybody--

Totally.

who looked and
to all the physicians.

You should have seen how hard
it was just to get this from

the FDA.

I understand it.

I want it to be validated
by somebody that's credible

because the first thing that's
going to happen if I publish

this, Joe is a grieving father.

He has no medical background.

They're going
to do that anyway.

Piece of crap.

They'll do that anyway.

And they'll do that to
whomever actually validates it.

If you have a $17 billion a
year market already that's

out there using it regularly,
why would you do any of this?

And so to get this
information out there,

it really relies on
folks like yourself.

We had a discussion last
night about side effects.

And you said, your daughter
didn't have any side effects.

That's what we thought until
we started looking back

in time of how Brittany felt
over the last couple of years.

And early-onset indicators
were that she had migraines.

And we took her to the doctor.

And they gave her
a decongestant.

And it wasn't until
I spoke with somebody

at a contraceptive
technology conference

that the doctor
said, oh my gosh,

those are early warning
signs that those hormones

don't agree with her.

Our daughter was
complaining of some things that

in retrospect should
have been warning signs.

And we didn't know.

She didn't know.

Why didn't we know this?

Why don't doctors know this?

But the doctors
don't know this.

It's not until
there's a death, I think,

that some of their eyes open.

You may not even see that
because of the separation

of primary care
with hospitalists.

So you may never
have that feedback

to see that there was a
death or a serious event

because it never
gets back to them.

You know how some of the
doctor's offices have these

screens, where they do
little vignettes that roll?

And I thought, well, I
wonder if there's an avenue.

You've got to capture audience.

Perhaps it's sitting
in a doctor's office,

in a waiting room,
has nothing to do

but look at their cell phone.

So what are the
signs of a blood clot?

What are the signs
of a blood clot?

That's a great idea.

Is this a poster?

I see this
potentially as a poster.

Or a handout that is given
at a pharmacy or just given out

at a college.

The question is,
is this enough to get

people's attention?

We use blood clot signs and
symptoms in our presentation.

And we don't address doctors.

We address women directly.

And then we really focus
on the idea of friendship

because that's where women
make these kinds of decisions.

And I think this will be best
presented as a short Instagram

post.

I want to get there first.

I want to talk about
this stuff before there

at the doctor's office because
I'm trying to win at this.

I'm serious.

What's happened to your
kids can't happen anymore.

I think the reason that
The Fifth Vital Sign has been

successful is because they
eliminate that barrier.

They just go out and do it.

This whole system is not
called the uterus, right?

This part is the uterus.

But there's also
the fallopian tubes.

There's also the ovaries.

This is a
nonmenstruating uterus.

And this is a
menstruating uterus.

And it doubles in weight.

Dental dam.

Dental dam.

Dental dam.

I've used those before.

It's called dental dam
because they use that--

in dental surgery.

in dental surgery.

Oh, true, true.

I thought we were
getting some gossip.

Worth the copay, for sure.

So now you know each
other a little bit better.

I think we need to trust
and leverage the knowledge

and wisdom of the
younger generation.

So hats off to whatever you're
doing and how you do it.

There's power in
aligning our messages.

As you guys have
said, if we all start

using each other's
methods, everybody's

got their own little niche.

Start leveraging.

I think that lots of
women have relatively little

information about their bodies.

When we take ownership,
we allow ourselves

to give consent in a totally
whole and informed way.

Yeah, OK, where's
the flashlight?

Why don't you hold it
when you're looking at--

The feminist health movement
of the 1970s was very skeptical

of the pharmaceutical industry.

And it was very
curious and interested

in female physiology.

And then we had Roe v. Wade.

And the energy of the
mainstream women's movement

really turned away from
the body and toward women

getting power in society.

The idea was, let's
stop playing doctor

and let's become doctors.

Most OB-GYNS are women now.

But when you look at
reproductive health in the US,

we're actually falling behind.

We're still in the dark
ages in a lot of ways

in supporting
women in childbirth

and in keeping women
healthy through menopause.

It's a very left-brain
patriarchal medical system that

we were taught about in school,
very pharmaceutical-based,

very science-based.

And I feel like a lot of us
missed the boat on women's

health as medical doctors.

In seven years
of medical training,

I had not one single moment
of anyone ever saying,

and when you educate
women about the pill,

you need to tell them
this or tell them that.

The problem is not
the individual doctor.

It's actually being
steeped in a system that

has been misogynistic
from day one,

where a concept of
hysteria or hypochondria,

which is completely
attributed to women,

has led to women largely
being invisible and dismissed.

For me, it's how do we change
the field around the fictions

of gender and sex
and race and class,

no matter whose neck the
stethoscope is around?

Hello.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Welcome to TF.

Thank you.

How are you doing today?

Well.

How are you?

Good.

Are you here for a
9:45 appointment?

Yes.

We're just going to go
through it page by page,

make sure everything is correct.

I never know if I'm Hispanic
or Latino because I am.

But I definitely think you
cannot be Black and Hispanic,

so.

You can leave that part.

We really offered that--

we really just need
your birthdate.

And then when you get to
the insurance portion,

just let me know and I'll
take over from there.

Sure.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome.

Oh yeah.

So typically, what would
happen is a patient signs up

and then she books
her own appointment.

We also ask this question,
which is, what does

optimal health mean to you?

But typically you
would say a goal here.

So whatever--

That's nice.

I think to have goals
is interesting and is

new in medicine because most
people don't have a goal.

How often have you
been to the doctor do

they ever ask you your goals?

Never until today.

There are no goals.

That's why we do it.

Those are my goals.

Yeah.

Exactly.

There you have it.

I was inspired to jump
into women's health

after going through my own
frustrating series of women's

health care issues,
intricately connected

to the struggle of finding
the right birth control

as a problem and solution.

I started to solve one
problem, which was just

to help women find the
right birth control,

and realized how, ironically,
that was this integral question

and challenge connected
to so many other issues

that women face
around their health.

Then three years
later, we have a fully

operating brick-and-mortar
women's health

practice that's
trying to redefine

what women's health is.

Hi.

Hello, Avery.

How are you?

Dr. Moritz.

How can I help you?

After 30 some years
of delivering babies,

I was looking for a way
to continue that but more

in the gynecology side, I
see the younger people now

actually wanting to avoid
hormonal contraception.

And I think it has to
do with the entire idea

of eating right.

And everything that goes into
their body, they think about.

So I've had a lot of issues
my whole life with my cycle

and my period.

I was irregular always.

So at 14, they put me on
birth control to regulate me.

With me getting
liver lesions, now I

have this aversion towards it.

Hormones are so complex.

So if you're saying
to me, Dr. McClellan,

do you think hormonal
contraception has side effects,

absolutely, for sure.

Then why should I take it?

You don't have to take it.

Now, can you avoid pregnancy
not using any hormone

contraception?

Absolutely.

It takes more work.

You have to be really
thoughtful, double barrier,

and also using some
sort of ovulatory window

predictive analytic.

We wanted the doctors to
feel more like consultants

in their health care than a
dogmatic provider that's just

telling you what to
do with zero options.

But the ultimate arbiter
of choice is the patient.

I was working as a
management consultant.

And my wife at night
was waking me up

and was complaining that
she had cramps in her leg.

She went to doctors and finally
some homeopath asked her

if she was taking the pill.

And she was saying, what else?

He said, well,
leave off the pill.

And she did.

And after a few weeks,
those cramps disappeared.

Fortunately, this
estrogen and progesterone

can change over the cycle and
they have opposite terminal

effects on the individual.

And these different terminal
effects you can measure.

We started with Baby-Comp.

Then we came up with
Lady-Comp and Pearly.

Now we also have an app
version that's called Daysy.

I always like to tell people
about the apps that there are

available.

This is Daysy.

So I'll pass it around and
everybody can have a look.

Daysy has its own thermometer,
which I think is really cool.

You press it and you take
your temperature every day.

It learns you for
three months, just

like you would with a
fertility awareness method.

And then after three
months, you can use it.

Could an app replace
the birth control pill?

With tools and apps
for nearly everything,

it's not surprising our mobile
devices can also dictate some

of what we do in the bedroom.

I think I've gone through
most of the different types

of contraceptives
that there are.

And none of them seem
to be a very good fit.

My dream was, what
if I could just know

exactly where I am in my cycle?

Then I would know which
few days per cycle I

have to use a condom.

That would be fine instead
of having to go and navigate

that question every time.

So we built an app, which is
kind of a general tracking app.

And people used it
to get pregnant.

People used it to understand
when the next period is coming.

They used it for many
different reasons.

I think if you come
with a full data set

and bring it to your doctor,
you are enabling your doctor

to do a great job.

So I think it's a very
empowering thing that women

can actually come and
not just be an average

but be like, no, it's my body.

This is what's going on.

Hey.

How's it going?

Things are good.

We're kind of building
out our calendar for 2020.

So there's a lot of excitement
and a lot of possibilities.

And so I'm really excited.

I think we're like
sitting in a moment

now where we get to reflect
on a changing landscape.

We have the Women's March.

We have the #MeToo movement.

We have broad stroke movements
inside of this landscape.

But we still also have this
deep level of suspicion

around where is our victory?

Where is our liberation
and our freedom?

That's the complex relationship
that I think all women really

have had with hormonal birth
control, with contraception.

How do we build
more Tia clinics?

How do we build more
accessible spaces?

How do we build
more interventions

while also holding accountable
the institutions that currently

exist?

So Planned Parenthood
New York City

approached Black
Woman's Blueprint

to support them in a truth
and reckoning process.

So that process is
specifically to look

at the legacy of Planned
Parenthood's relationship

to their communities
and the communities

where they are stationed.

What are the historical
and even, I'd say,

institutionalized violences
that Planned Parenthood

has caused as a result
of several participants

in its history, but
namely Margaret Sanger,

who the main headquarters
is still named for?

And so the legacy of
her hand in eugenics,

the legacy of her hand
in distributing birth

control to communities
and populations

really as a form of erasing
those communities and even

full races of individuals
and people and populations--

what does it look
like to actually do

the truth-telling work around
that so that Planned Parenthood

can actually be the stand that
it is in community, right,

creating access while also
being held accountable

for past harms.

Each Planned Parenthood
isn't the same as the other.

Yeah.

That's right.

There are some things
that they follow, of course.

But the cultures
and the communities

play a huge impact in that.

And so the recognition,
which is great,

I think is just the first step.

It's really exciting that
the work is moving forward.

I think, again, it's
the what's next, right?

After accountability
has been claimed,

how do we ensure
sustained accountability?

And how do we ensure community
voice is always heard?

We want people to have
information, real information.

And let's see what people do
with that real information

once they really know.

Do we get our policymakers
to look at the really smart

and proven work of
reproductive justice activists?

In the 1990s, you had
a group of Black women

who began a reproductive
justice movement.

Loretta Ross is one of the
more well-known activists.

And what they're really doing is
holding these doctors but also

the medical establishment
responsible for the damage

that they're ultimately doing.

No justice, no peace.

No justice, no peace.

That's the frontier that
we're involved in right now

in terms of feminists who are
fighting around birth control.

I went to the United State
of Women, the first major event.

I was there for my work as a
reproductive health advocate.

When they said,
reproductive rights,

which was one of the huge
banners, all they were talking

about was birth control.

And it was birth control and
abortion, one or the other,

right?

And I said, but what about
women's wellness and everything

that it takes for us to
actually live healthy?

If we're being given these
hormonal contraceptives without

the proper information, then
it's not liberating for me.

It's not liberating
for my community.

How we address birth control
should be a larger conversation

that's part of a larger
broad-based women's movement.

We should be looking at
the reproductive life

cycle of a woman, which
includes pregnancy, birth,

loss, breastfeeding.

And we don't really gather
women under the same umbrella

to have these conversations.

To me, reproductive
justice instead puts people

at the center, not a
product, not a procedure.

And it's really
about women's rights

not only to, quote unquote,
control their body,

but to have a healthy body, to
enjoy their body, to protect

their body.

We've got all these women
who are in this sort of hyper

accommodating state when they're
taking antidepressants and oral

contraceptives.

And I would say to you that that
is a political issue, that this

is a social issue,
that right now, we

need to be less accommodating.

One of the more popular
methods of birth control is

the pill, according to the CDC.

But the number of women using
it appears to be going down.

There's a lot of concern
about putting anything

artificial in your body.

And I think that has leading
to some fear about hormones.

Endocrine-disrupting
chemicals, ECBs,

have been linked to infertility,
adverse pregnancy outcomes,

obesity, diabetes, childhood
leukemia, and more.

We've seen a real shift in
the past decade to a much more

ecological awareness.

We're thinking about
pesticides, herbicides, organic,

what we're putting
in our body, what

we're putting in our planet.

If you destroy hormones that
are involved in reproductive

functions, you don't allow
them and you replace them with

endocrine disruptors, which are
what are in these birth control

pills and similars, you are
destroying the foundation

of that woman's
body's functioning.

I think women are now making
the connection, like oh, OK,

so I'm avoiding all these
environmental endocrine

disruptors.

I'm detoxing the beauty
products that I use every day.

And they're realizing,
oh, the pill

is an endocrine
disruptor by design.

It is definitely
an experiment,

a human trial that we've
been doing on these women.

And because of the
age of social media,

we're finally hearing from them.

And they're saying, listen,
this is not working for me.

I'm having all these issues.

What do I do?

People want more information.

They want to be
treated as individuals

that are autonomous, that
can make sound decisions.

And that's why that
educational dynamic

and that one-on-one
coaching dynamic

is really starting to
blow up, because there's

this feeling of,
yeah, I could do this.

Can you just show me how?

So different types of
nonhormonal contraception,

we have fertility awareness.

We have the male condom,
the female condom.

Copper IUD, the diaphragm,
cervical cap, sponge.

The medical model has
created a vacuum, this huge,

gaping hole of women
needing to fill it.

So we are filling it by
talking to each other.

OK, so I love this slide.

It's my favorite slide.

I wish we could make
this a big poster.

Cycles and sex is a movement
to educate and celebrate

the interconnectedness of
our menstrual, hormonal,

reproductive, and sexual health.

So we have the marketplace.

I think there's 29
brands signed on.

Great.

We'll have the
full day of panels.

And it'll be everything from
fertility, birth control,

politics, sex--

gender.

gender.

Gender's nonbinary.

It'll be exciting
to see who comes.

It blocks the
entrance to the cervix.

It's sealed off.

And you have the option
to put in spermicide.

We'll send you information
on what it means to have this.

You have instructions for
how did you want to do it,

boil water?

An event like this has
really culminated from a shift

in the cultural conversation.

All of this is something
that women are really ready,

I think, to take ownership of.

This is a huge moment of
awakening and awareness.

There is just a
reclamation happening.

When I've been talking to
my daughter, I say, honey,

I don't want you to get
on the birth control pill.

She goes, [gasps],,
but I'll get pregnant.

I'm like, no you won't.

It's all about education.

It's all about tracking.

It's all about empowerment.

It's all about knowing
where you're at.

One of the things--

There's a whole world of
people that want to participate

in this.

And you can, too.

It can be done in place of
love and community support

and not like, ooh, this dirty
thing that you talk about.

It's like, no, this is
our human experience.

These are our bodies.

I just want to acknowledge
and honor that although

we're talking about
lady part problems,

not everybody who identifies
as a woman or female has these

parts.

By expanding the
conversation of gender identity

to reproductive justice,
you save people's lives

because people don't want to
go to the doctor to talk about

their period if they're
going to be questioned about

their gender identity.

I'd say we're at the
beginning of the wave.

The culture has shifted.

And for the first
time, women or people

will have actual
uteruses are innovating.

People are fed up with
not having access,

with not having an
equitable experience,

and now taking matters
into their own hands.

The time is now.

It's changing.

You can, you
can do anything, anything.

You can do anything.

You can, you can
anything, anything.

You can do anything.

You can, you can do
anything, anything.

You can do anything.

One by one,
well, I left my homes

and I left my lovers.

Sticks and stones, tried to
wear me down to flesh and bones.

Oh, one by one by one by
one, one by one by one,

one by one by one by
one, one by one by one.

Let me down till I lost my head.

Couldn't take
another broken heart.

So I'm taking back each tear.

One by one by one by
one, one by one by one.

One by one by one by
one, one by one by one.

You blew a kiss.

And then you're gone.

The vicious circle
goes on and on.

You leave a kiss and fire a gun.

The vicious circle
goes on and on.

But just watch me walk away
'cause I'm learning every day.

I'll blow a kiss
and then I'm gone.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

I was lost till I
found my records that

sang how love hurt.

It hit that bone.

Now I'm taking back each tear.

One by one by one by
one, one by one by one.

One by one by one by
one, one by one by one.

Oh, you leave a kiss.

And then you're gone.

The vicious circle
goes on and on.

You leave a kiss and fire a gun.

The vicious circle
goes on and on.

But just watch me walk away
'cause I'm learning every day.

I'll blow a kiss
and then I'm gone.

You blow a kiss and
then you're gone.

The vicious circle
goes on and on.

You leave a kiss a fire a gun.

The vicious circle
goes on and on.

But just watch me walk away
'cause I'm learning every day.

I'll blow a kiss
and then I'm gone.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.