My Research Topic

The historical research topic I would like to cover is birth control and the churches’ reaction to it. I have had some health issues from an early age. I had very painful menstruations and was unable to really do anything about it but lay in bed until it was done. I grew up in a religious home and the need for help or doctors for such a thing was not accepted, it was not until I moved out that I was able to get the help I needed. I have been on birth control for health reasons for almost five years now. And because of the health issues I have and the type of pill I am on I no longer menstruate. My roommate also grew up religiously and is now in a committed relationship and is considering her options, so she was asking me questions about birth control. The question she asked was “Would it be better for my hormones if I didn’t have a period.” The answer is yes, it is better but many birth controls still allow you to menstruate. I knew that one of the reasons most birth controls still allow you to menstruate is because the church was uncomfortable with the idea of women not having periods, and it is better hormonally if you do not flip your body back and forth between hormones. This really interested me, and I wanted to know and learn more about the churches views on birth control and when they finally stopped villainizing birth control. I did a little research and found the battle over birth control and the major opinion changes happened in the thirties to the sixties. So my question is “How did the Churches opinion on birth control change from the 1930–1960s?”