Supreme Court Case: Griswold V. Connecticut

Children Children remain a controversial issue in the law for women and occur frequently in debates today. The birth control movement started in 1873 with the Comstock Law, which outlawed the distribution of birth control information and devices through mail. This included birth control related items imported from outside the United States. The Comstock Law also outlawed possession of information about birth control, as well as possession of actual birth control devices or medications, including those for abortions or contraceptives. In the 1900s, many states held laws that prohibited medically prescribed contraceptives to married couples. In 1912, Margaret Sanger began publishing articles on birth control and founded the National Birth

Sanger allowed doctors to advise married couples about birth control, but only for health purposes. It took until the 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut to get all state laws that prohibited married couples from obtaining contraceptives overturned. In Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court claimed a state ban on contraceptives violated the couple’s right to marital privacy. The 1972 Eisenstadt v. Baird Supreme Court case involved a lecture that Baird gave at Boston University, which he concluded by giving away contraceptive foam to attendees. Massachusetts charged him under a felony to distribute contraceptives to unmarried women and men. The Supreme Court case struck down the Massachusetts law that claimed that only married couples could obtain contraceptives that registered doctors or pharmacists provided. The Court stated that the law did not satisfy the rational basis test offered by the 14th Amendment. Perhaps one of the most widely known and controversial Supreme Court cases regarding contraceptives, Roe v. Wade still gains attention in legal debates today. The Supreme Court stated that by banning a woman’s right to an abortion, Texas violated her constitutional rights. Women hold the right to an abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy under their 14th Amendment rights. The states currently hold the right to decide whether or not to allow abortion for the second and third trimesters. Regardless of the method, women fight

Although Vassar boasted numerous female professors, a predominantly male staff held all of the high leadership positions. Vassar charged high tuition fees in order to limit enrollment to the upper class. In an act of elitism, the college refused to lower their tuition as they did not want to accept those of the middle or lower class, who they believed would lower the level of intelligence at the school. In 1963, 200 years after Harvard University first began admitting students, they opened their doors to women. It took until the late 1800s and 1960s for most colleges to transition into co-educational facilities. However, some institutions like West Point, who did not allow female cadets until 1976, still had complaints from women regarding dormitories, separate locker rooms and bathrooms, and health services. At other times the schools restricted women from certain classes, or did not allow them to sit down until all the men had found seats. One school in Wisconsin would not allow any woman to enter the library if a man was already present. Overall, women struggled to obtain degrees with which men could easily graduate. Without degrees, women would face an increasingly difficult time obtaining high paying jobs that matched those of their male coworkers. The majority of institutions, professors, and classmates discouraged the presence of women