History of Feminism
Related: About this forumHappy 48th Anniversary to Legal Contraception
According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griswold_v._Connecticut
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Griswold v. Connecticut involved a Connecticut law that prohibited the use of "any drug, medicinal article or instrument for the purpose of preventing conception." Although the law was passed in 1879, the statute was almost never enforced.
Attempts had been made to test the constitutionality of the law; however, the challenges failed on technical grounds. In Tileston v. Ullman (1943), a doctor and mother challenged the statute on the grounds that a ban on contraception could, in certain sexual situations, threaten the lives and well-being of patients. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on the grounds that the plaintiff lacked standing to sue on behalf of his patients. A second challenge to the Connecticut law was brought by a doctor as well as his patients in Poe v. Ullman (1961). However, the Supreme Court again voted to dismiss the appeal, on the grounds that the case was not ripe. It held that, because the plaintiffs had not been charged or threatened with prosecution, there was no actual controversy for the judiciary to resolve. Thus, the Connecticut statute had evaded judicial review until Griswold v. Connecticut.
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Later decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court extended the principles of Griswold beyond its particular facts. Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972) extended its holding to unmarried couples, whereas the "right of privacy" in Griswold was said to only apply to marital relationships. The argument in Eisenstadt was that it was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to deny unmarried couples the right to use contraception when married couples did have that right (under Griswold). Writing for the majority, Justice Brennan wrote that Massachusetts could not enforce the law against married couples because of Griswold v. Connecticut, so the law worked "irrational discrimination" if not extended to unmarried couples as well.
OK, I had no idea this all happened within my lifetime.
I can't even imagine what life would be like if every time I had sex I had to worry about getting pregnant. I am thinking I would just never,ever have had PIV sex if contraception wasn't available (considering how strongly I feel about NOT ever bearing children).
Wow.
marybourg
(12,648 posts)Women did the same for i.u.d.s. If they could afford the trips.
I don't know this from personal experience, but I'm sure the poor were forced to buy on black markets.
ismnotwasm
(42,023 posts)Glad it's improved and here now.
Happy Birthday birth control! ( pun definitely intended )
redqueen
(115,108 posts)Disappointing that this battle to control women via our reproductive systems is still going on.
It's good to celebrate these milestones, and consider not only how recent they are, but what life would be like without them.
cheyanne
(733 posts)Not only was it impossible to get contraception (other than condoms), there was no concept of "rape" in my little Ohio town. If you got pregnant, it was your own fault, no matter how young you were. Forget about abortion. You were sent to special home in another town to wait out your pregnancy, give away the child, come home and pretend it never happened. The guy was never penalized, but he girl was shunned.
Of course, you could get married, often under duress from family and church.
I knew one girl, 14, who with her family support, did not give away the baby or, (perhaps because of his family's lack of support) get married to the guy, 17. After he finished dental school, he was allowed to marry her. She, of course, did not go to college: had to stay home with the child. And of course, no one else was going to marry her.
Ohio 1966.