The contraceptive pill Enovid was first approved May 9, 1960 by the United States Food and Drug Administration.  It allowed women to engage in sexual intercourse without the life changing consequence of getting pregnant.  The Pill, as it became known, was the first medication designed solely for social purposes, and was instantly popular.  Women were able to delay having children and to pursue a career or an education that they could not have considered before. As Clare Boothe Luce, a famous journalist, declared, "Modern woman is at last free as a man is free to dispose of her own body."
The Pill had a severe impact on both the sexual freedom of women and religion.  The sexual freedom of women was expanded greatly because the pill gave them an easy solution for birth control that did not require the cooperation of a partner or previous planning.  In 1968, Pope Paul VI released Humanae Vitae, which proclaimed all artificial forms of birth control or an attempt to prevent procreation illicit.  The denunciation of Humane Vitae by priests and other Christians was one of the greatest causes of the rejection of the Church’s authority.

Sources:
Meyer, Ronald B. The Pill Approved (1960): The Churches v. Contraception. 17 October 2003. <http://www.ronaldbrucemeyer.com/rants/0509almanac.htm>

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). American Experience: The Pill. 16 October 2003. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/index.html>

Vatican. Humanae Vitae. 17 October 2003.<http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/
paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html> (primary)

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