John Billings, 89, Rhythm Method Pioneer
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John Billings, the founder of a Catholic-friendly method of birth control that made its greatest impact in Communist China, died Sunday in Melbourne, Australia. He was 89.
Billings and his wife Evelyn pioneered the Billings Ovulation Method in the 1950s — a technique that helps women identify their fertile and non-fertile states based on their menstrual cycle.
The neurologist and his wife spent more than 50 years researching fertility and establishing the World Organization Ovulation Method Billings International, better known as WOOMB, in his hometown of Melbourne as a center for research and teaching the method around the world.
The Billings method uses examination of cervical mucus as an indicator of when a woman is fertile. Billings contended that the traditional rhythm method, using estimated timing based on past menstrual cycles, was less accurate.
A staunch Catholic and father of nine, Billings’ method always had the support of his church, which opposes contraceptive devices such as condoms and the pill that revolutionized birth control a decade later. Pope Paul VI awarded him a Papal Knighthood in 1969.
Critics argue the church supported it because of its relatively high failure rate, which earned it the nickname “Vatican Roulette.”
WOOMB director Marian Corkill said the method was taught in more than 100 countries including China, where it was welcomed by the government in the mid-1990s as a safe and cheap alternative to abortion and popular intrauterine devices.
“His work in China was a highlight of his career in that the Billings Method is now available in all the provinces in China and has been taken up by the Chinese government as the method of choice as part of their family planning,” Corkill said.
Mukesh Haikerwal, president of the Australian Medical Association, praised Billings’ work in educating women.
He said the method’s failure rate was three in 100, compared to one in 100 for condoms, one in 1,000 for the pill and one in 10,000 for implanted devices.
“It made a contribution to reducing some pregnancies, but obviously in terms of the wider availability of contraception today, it’s not as successful,” Haikerwal told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
