daniel mishell: well when i was in training in the 1950's, the only contraceptives available were the barrier methods, the condom and the diaphragm. the barrier methods frequently failed and abortion was not legal and there were a large number of unwanted births before oral contraceptives became available. oral contraceptives first came on the market in the 1960's. daniel mishell: that was a huge advance, enabling or empowering women to control their time of reproduction and have more pregnancies planned. and about 80% of u.s. women use oral contraceptives at some time in their lifetime, but most of them stop using it after a year or two to either have another child or concern about side effects. but now we have data on long-term use of oral contraceptives and there appears to be no harm for women to continue to take them through their-- throughout their reproductive life. in addition to providing an effective form of birth control, the pill has other benefits. robert hatcher: after ten years of pill use, it has an 80% of protective effect against ovarian cancer. now that's the only g