They also believed that birth control alone would never be enough and that the U.S. government should legalize sterilization and abortion. This did not happen. So instead, Planned Parenthood, along with the Population Council, began funding research for a birth control drug in the 1950s. After years of research, the birth control pill became available to women in 1960. (Bound4life.org, “History of Abortion”) This was the gateway to legalization