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The magic pill

Broadcast Date: Oct. 11, 1964

"If taken as it should be... it will stop ovulation 100 per cent," Dr. John Rock, co-developer of the birth control pill, tells the CBC's Katie Johnson. It's a revolutionary concept since previous methods of birth control — such as condoms, diaphragms and the rhythm method — are unreliable and impractical.

Although Canada approved the sale of the pill in 1960, candid discussions about ovulation, menstruation and fertilization still make people hot under the collar. In this 1964 clip from the CBC's This Hour Has Seven Days you can hear the audience chuckling nervously during the interview.

The magic pill

• Dr. Rock, along with Dr. Gregory Pincus and Dr. Carl Djerassi, were the men responsible for the development of the first oral contraceptive in 1954, but it was the tireless efforts of birth-control activist Margaret Sanger that made access to the pill a reality. • Birth-control advocate Margaret Sanger was motivated by the early death of her mother. Her Irish-Catholic mother died at the age of 50 from the physical toll of having 11 children and seven miscarriages.


• The pill was the first drug to be developed for healthy women solely to serve a social rather than a medical purpose.
• The pill, if used correctly, is 97 to 99 per cent effective in preventing pregnancy.
• Canada approved the sale of the birth control pill back in 1960. It was to be prescribed only for "therapeutic purposes," such as regulating menstrual cycles.


• Selling or advertising birth control was illegal in Canada under the 1892 Criminal Code. It carried a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment. Although the pill was widely available with a doctor's prescription, the Criminal Code would not be changed until 1969.

The magic pill

Medium: Television

Program: This Hour has Seven Days

Broadcast Date: Oct. 11, 1964

Guest(s): Dr. John Rock

Host: John Drainie, Katie Johnson

Duration: 2:46

Last updated:
Aug. 27, 2009