The Forgotten Mother of the Contraceptive Pill

The Forgotten Mother of the Contraceptive Pill

As reproductive rights continue to be under siege, we remember Katharine Dexter McCormick, a key figure in expanding access to birth control pills in the U.S. At one point in the late 1940s or early '50s, McCormick had been one of the richest women in America, but what made her truly remarkable was what she did with that wealth: Defying countless contemporary social norms, mores and medical taboos, she provided almost all of the funding necessar…