Griswold Vs Connecticut Case Study

The fight for reproductive and family privacy in the United States began in 1964 with Griswold v. Connecticut. The appellants in this case-the Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut Estelle Griswold and the Planned Parenthood 's Medical Director Dr. Lee Buxton-were arrested for giving "information, instruction, and medical advice to married persons as to the means of preventing conception" (Griswold v. Connecticut). The outcome of this case has allowed for the protection of a number of important rights, including the right to terminate a pregnancy, the right to participate in same-sex relationships, and the right to choose how one 's children are raised ("50 Years After").

In Connecticut from 1958 to 1965, it was a criminal offense for any person to use a drug or other article to prevent

(qtd. in Griswold v. Connecticut)

Griswold and Buxton were charged under Connecticut Statute

However, Justice Goldberg took a more refined approach than Justice Douglas, focusing solely on the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments. He argued that the Connecticut statute infringed upon the un-enumerated yet fundamental right of privacy in marriage, directly opposing the Ninth Amendment. When the Fourteenth Amendment was enacted, states were prohibited from "abridging fundamental personal liberties" guaranteed by the Bill of Rights (Griswold v. Connecticut). Justice Goldberg asserted that these two amendments in conjunction were sufficient evidence of the unconstitutionality of the Connecticut statute. (Griswold v.