A controversial topic such as birth control may seem like a modern issue, but it’s not. Contraceptives have been used in one form or another for thousands of years throughout human history and even prehistory. In fact, family planning has always been widely practiced, even in societies dominated by social, political, or religious codes that require people to be fruitful and multiply.
The history of birth control can be traced back many centuries. In fact, women all over the world have been using birth control method even before there were any modern medical contraceptive innovations or procedures. However, many of these pre-modern methods were not always as safe or effective as those available today.
Centuries ago, Chinese women drank lead and mercury to control fertility, which often resulted in sterility or death. During the Middle Ages in Europe, magicians advised women to wear the testicles of a weasel on their thighs or hang its amputated foot from around their necks. Other amulets of the time were wreaths of herbs, desiccated cat livers or shards of bones from cats (but only the pure black ones), flax lint tied in a cloth and soaked in menstrual...