The article examines contraceptive recommendations made by practitioners to their patients, in order to better understand the central role of the contraceptive pill in the French contraceptive system. A random sample of 1,011 general practitioners and gynecologists completed a questionnaire in 2010. The paper demonstrates how heterogeneous their recommendations are, sometimes in contradiction with national and international contraceptive guidelines. The extent of the choice given to women therefore depends on some characteristics of the practitioners, their medical experience, and also their personal experience and representations of contraceptives. Without proper training, the most often recommended method is likely to be the one that is easiest to prescribe, namely the contraceptive pill. This is to a large extent due to the organization of medicine in France. The unequal training of practitioners in family planning, the absence of accountability for their medical practices and the fee-for-service system all collide to set aside contraceptive efficiency or to overlook offering women the conditions of an informed choice.