A Review of Women's Reproductive Rights

As a senior at a small, private, church sponsored, conservative college in the Midwest, I decided that I would like to write my senior thesis for my history degree on Griswold v. Connecticut (1965). Griswold v. Connecticut served as a precedent for Roe v. Wade (1973). My premise was that the Supreme Court was actually more influenced by societal pressures and norms than legal theory would suggest. I further asserted that, although the Supreme Court judges were appointed by life to not be swayed by political and public opinion;  in fact, they were. I was mildly discouraged from my topic by members of my all male history faculty. However, the reason was not the one might guess. They believed it would be difficult to prove if the court had been swayed by public and political opinion or not. As one of my professors pointed out, volumes had been written on the subject with no decisive answer either way. Nevertheless, I persisted and pursued my study of "Griswold V. Connecticut: Contraceptives, Conservatism and the Courts."

Margaret Sanger surrounded by 12 other women.
Photo courtesy of http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/93504866/

When I attended college (back in the good old days), the internet had not been released to the public. Instead, I had to conduct my research using the old methods, going to law libraries, cross-referencing legal cases, traveling to libraries around the state to find original documents, pouring over texts in the government documents section, and tirelessly scouring the Reader's Guide of Periodical References. I became a library hermit.

As I conducted research about Griswold v. Connecticut, I found the social history of contraceptives in the United States to be rather interesting. According to some historians, witch hunts and witch trials were sometimes directed at those practicing contraceptive and abortion techniques. This would date the contraceptive issue back to the 1600s.  Contraceptives during America's history was definitely frowned upon to say the least. In 1873, the Comstock Law was passed at the federal level prohibiting the advertisement, distribution and information about contraceptives. Twenty-four states passed similar statutes.  The state of Connecticut took things one step further and made the use of contraceptives illegal in the state.  Nearly 32 years later, Margaret Sanger was arrested and jailed  for distributing birth control information through the mail.

In United States v. One Package (1936), a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided that physicians could receive contraceptives or contraceptive devices to "promote the well being of their patients." Public health birth control centers opened in North Carolina in the 1930s. The clinics reported having lines around the block of women wanting contraceptives.

The Woman's Rights Movement in the 1960s gave new voice to the issue of contraceptives. The Commission on the Status of Women, headed by Eleanor Roosevelt, demonstrated widespread discrimination against women in America. Betty Friedan wrote the "Feminine Mystique" encouraging women to move out of the kitchen and into the office. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was passed prohibiting employment discrimination based on sex.  A female attorney in Connecticut challenged the state's authority to deny women rights to birth control in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965).  The Supreme Court found that married couples did have a right to pursue birth control options under "the right of privacy in marriage" which was "constitutionally protected". Unmarried women continued to be unable to obtain birth control until Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972).

Sources:
Heinsohn, G. & Steiger, O. "Birth Control: The Political-Economic Rationale behind Jean Bodin's Demonomanie." History of Political Economy, vol. 31 no. 3, 1999, pp. 423-448. Project MUSE, found online at https://muse.jhu.edu/article/13168.
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
Our Bodies, Our Selves. A Brief History of Birth Control in the U.S. found online at http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/a-brief-history-of-birth-control/.
ConnecticutHistory.org. Connecticut and the Comstock Law, found online at https://connecticuthistory.org/connecticut-and-the-comstock-law/
New York University.  The Margaret Sanger Papers Project, found online at http://www.nyu.edu/projects/sanger/aboutms/index.php
United States v. One Package, 86 F.2d 737 (2d Cir. 1936)
Centers for Disease Control. Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Family Planning, found online at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4847a1.htm
Women Advance. The Complicated History and Troubling Future of Birth Control, found online at http://www.womenadvancenc.org/2015/04/21/the-complicated-history-and-troubling-future-of-birth-control/
National Women's History Project. History of the Women's Rights Movement, found online at http://www.nwhp.org/resources/womens-rights-movement/history-of-the-womens-rights-movement/
Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972)