John Rock
American obstetrician and gynecologistWikipedia
10
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6
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Search complete. 10 mentions across 6 episodes found for "John Rock".
Sep 9, 2026
CinHOST
Mm-hmm.
CinHOST
When they got the pill working and they got a man named John Rock, who was a gynecologist, he's the guy on the bottom right.
AsaHOST
Mm-hmm.
CinHOST
They enlisted him to help review the use of progesterone that could prevent ovulation.
CinHOST
Yeah.
CinHOST
So he was also very involved.
CinHOST
So the three men was Gregory Pincus, John Rock, and Min Chueh Chang.
AsaHOST
Hmm.
Rebecca ShoreHOST
Their invention turned kidney failure into a manageable condition.
Rebecca ShoreHOST
Birth Control Pill, 1960 The first oral contraceptive was developed by reproductive biologist Min-Chua Chang and endocrinologist Gregory Pincus at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology and gynecologist John Rock at Boston's Free Hospital for Women, with extensive financial support from Katherine McCormick, an MIT-trained biologist who had once smuggled 1,000 diaphragms from Europe to the United States.
Rebecca ShoreHOST
The pill gave women a new level of control over their own reproduction and health.
Rebecca ShoreHOST
Limbs, 2009.
Samira MehtaGUEST
And the way that the birth control pill works, which comes into existence about, research is really underway 20 to 25 years after that statement, and what the birth control pill does is it's a hormonal cocktail that mimics pregnancy.
Samira MehtaGUEST
And so one of the doctors who was instrumental in developing the pill, and who becomes its sort of public spokesman, is a devout Catholic doctor named John Rock.
Samira MehtaGUEST
And John Rock believes that the birth control pill will fit the Catholic Church's standards for when you can use contraception, because it's creating the natural state that people can use in the rhythm method, that it can basically perfect rhythm.
Samira MehtaGUEST
And th- he says things this in places like Time Magazine.
Samira MehtaGUEST
And so the birth control pill enters the US market in 1960.
Eamonn ClarkeGUEST
And then the 50s, everyone relaxes, and then we have the 1960s, and everything explodes.
Eamonn ClarkeGUEST
With John Rock, his invention of the pill, and also his invention of artificial fertility mechanisms.
Eamonn ClarkeGUEST
Same guy who invented this, a nominal Catholic.
Eamonn ClarkeGUEST
Wow.
Kimber MaldenHOST
And so he, I guess he felt confident he could move on to women.
Kimber MaldenHOST
And then John Rock was a Catholic obstetrician who was basically brought in for religious cover.
Kimber MaldenHOST
Because a lot of the people who were opposing Any form of birth control, especially one that would shut a woman's cycle down, which is, you know, within religious circles is seen as sacred, is a sacred creation of God.
Kimber MaldenHOST
And so I think he was just brought in basically to like make it seem like it was kosher.
Kimber MaldenHOST
So there was no safety information provided whatsoever.
Kimber MaldenHOST
Serious side effects included blood clots, and at least three women died during these trials, and their deaths were never investigated for connection to the drug itself.
Kimber MaldenHOST
Even the medical director wrote to Rock, John Rock, expressing his concern about how casually the drug was being moved from animal trials to women and all of this, you know, bringing up all the serious possible consequences and side effects.
Kimber MaldenHOST
But his concerns were dismissed.
AmyHOST
McCormick provided most of the money needed to develop the pill.
DaveHOST
She worked with birth control advocate Margaret Sanger and researchers including Gregory Pincus, Min Chang, and Dr. John Rock.
AndrewHOST
Her funding allowed the researchers to continue when university, government agencies, and drug companies were reluctant.
AndrewHOST
That must have been a lot of tax.