A bitter pill for the Pill after 50 years in China

Half a century ago, in the year 1960, a birth control pill by the name of "Evonid" went onto the market in the USA – today, 50 years later, the Pill is one of the most important forms of contraception. It is very popular in Europe but in China, on the other hand, it is not so wide-spread.

The birth control pill is stocked on the shelves in every pharmacy in China - right next to nasal spray and pain relievers. A month's supply costs just over two euros. People in China do not need a doctor's prescription to buy it; women who are interested just ask a pharmacist. One woman in a pharmacy in Beijing says, "I don't know what different kinds of pills there are. I buy the one that the pharmacist suggests - the one with the least amount of side-effects."

Sexual emancipation - in the West

When the Pill went on the market in the USA in 1960, China was quick to follow. A few years later the country came out with its own contraceptive pills. In the West, the Pill was celebrated as sexual emancipation for women, but in China it was seen as merely a new form of contraception that could help slow down the rapid growth of the population.

One woman from Beijing remembers how the government propagated the Pill. She says, "In the beginning, our work units handed out the Pill to us. You could just go there and get it for free."

Despite being promoted by the government, the Pill was never really accepted as a universal form of contraceptive in China, neither in the cities, nor in the country. According to official Chinese statistics, merely two to three percent of Chinese women take the Pill. And even those numbers are dwindling.

'Throws the body off balance'

Women in Beijing say they don't like the Pill's side-effects. One woman says, "the good thing about the Pill is that it makes your skin nice and reduces acne, but it is also unhealthy. I have heard it can cause vascular diseases in women over 40 and it is also not good for the heart." Another woman agrees: "I used to take it, but only seldom. Taking the pill is primitive; there are too many side-effects and it can cause damage to the body. It throws the body off balance."

Other methods of contraception are preferred in China, like the contraceptive coil, condoms and plain "being careful". But because the latter is far from fool-proof, abortions are also very common. They are carried out in normal hospitals or in private and often illegal clinics, where prices are very low, as are hygienic standards. In a regular hospital, an abortion costs around 100 euros and getting an appointment is never a problem. The patients do not need a doctor's approval, nor consultation. More and more young women get abortions, some even get many; there is no talk of the psychological impact abortions can have. China is one-of-a-kind in this respect. It is not likely that China will ever change its policy and promote the Pill over abortions. Discussions about the moral implications of killing an unborn child do not officially take place.

Author: Petra Aldenrath / sb
Editor: Grahame Lucas