History GCSE / National 5: How women fought for access to birth control in Britain
Radio 1 DJ Gemma Cairney traces the history of the women’s movement in Britain and discovers how women fought for access to birth control.
Childbirth in Victorian times was dangerous and difficult. Victorian families were large and reliable contraception was not available.
Marie Stopes believed that married women had a right to birth control. In 1921 the first birth control clinic in Britain was opened.
In 1961 the contraceptive pill was introduced. Illegal back street abortions were a leading cause of maternal death.
The 1967 Abortion Act made abortion legal and abortion still remains a controversial issue.
Teacher Notes
Students could divide into groups of four, with each of them producing a mini-presentation on one of the following topics: 'Why did women want birth control?', 'Marie Stopes', 'The pill' and 'Abortion'.
Curriculum Notes
This clip will be relevant for teaching History. This topic appears in OCR, Edexcel, AQA, WJEC, Eduqas, KS4/GCSE in England and Wales, CCEA GCSE in Northern Ireland and SQA National 4/5 in Scotland.
