Happy 50th birthday, birth-control pill. You and I grew up together.

As I approached early adulthood in the 1970s, you were being touted as the antidote for women’s sexual repression, unplanned pregnancies, and the gateway to academic and economic success.

Women should be better off because of you. But looking back on 50 years of experience, has this proved to be true?

Economist Timothy Reichert looked at the statistics on how relationships between men and women have changed since the advent of artificial birth control.

In a recent article for the Journal of Religion and Public Life, he concludes that the widespread use of contraception has harmed women, and consequently children, in several ways.

Reichert believes the availability of artificial birth control created a dual marketplace, one being consumers of sex and the other those seeking marriage.

While birth control enables women to enter the sex “market” on equal par with men, the limited opportunities for female fertility and childbearing compel women to leave the sex market and enter the marriage market.

Men, on the other hand, have little biological restrictions on their ability to reproduce. Therefore, they remain longer in the sex market. This creates an imbalance: more women in the marriage market with fewer willing marriageable men. Reichert proposes that there are several negative consequences as a result of this imbalance.

Contraception has led to more divorce.

Since there are fewer men willing to settle down, women are often settling for partners who are not right for them, but who are willing to marry. Both partners are less committed to remain in the marriage. Many view these as “starter marriages.”

Contraception also has led to more infidelity.

With less risk of conceiving a child outside of wedlock, there is less risk of getting caught.

Before the sexual revolution, infidelity was more limited to prostitution. With widespread contraceptive use, the pool of willing and available female partners has grown.

Finally, there is an argument to be made that contraception creates a demand for abortion.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, data gathered on U.S. abortion rates from 1965 to 2005 shows that the rise in abortion rates mirrors the rise in contraception rates.

While many women had hoped that artificial birth control would prevent unwanted pregnancies, the data seem to indicate that abortion is the fallback when birth control fails.

Because women have relied on birth control to enter the sexual marketplace at earlier ages and for longer periods of time, it seems likely that there are more chances to misuse ormishandle contraception that leads to unplanned pregnancies and, consequently, abortion.

This 50th anniversary might be an opportune time to reflect on the sexual state of affairs regarding women and artificial birth control.

The pill appeared to allow women the same sexual opportunities as men, but at what cost?

Perhaps if women would consider sex as a package deal — procreation and pleasure together — we might be less likely to settle for much less than perfect and command a stronger level of respect and responsibility on the part of men.

ELEANOR ROSSMAN writes from Camp Hill.