For almost 60 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld access to birth control as a fundamental right.

The Griswold v. Connecticut case from 1965 established the right of married couples to use contraceptives.

Eisenstand v. Baird in 1972 held that states may not prevent unmarried couples from using contraceptives.

And in the 1977 case Carey v. Populations Services, Inc., the court ruled that minors as young as 14 also have a right to obtain and use contraception.

Despite those robust legal precedents, the court has signaled to potential litigants that it is open to reconsider these rulings. In Dobbs v. Jackson, the 2022 case that overturned the right to an abortion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a concurring opinion that the court should revisit all three of those landmark contraception cases.  Congress attempted to adopt a Contraception Right Act in 2022, 2023 and again in the 2024 session, but federal legislation stalled each time.

State legislators are no longer waiting for Congress, but are introducing their own Right to Contraception Acts in state legislatures around the country.  Here in Wisconsin, the contraception rights effort is spearheaded by Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, who sponsored SB 365, the Wisconsin Right to Contraception Act.

Senator Dianne Hesselbein spoke with Monday Buzz host Brian Standing to talk more about efforts to protect the right to contraception.

Photo courtesy of Badger Herald.

Web posting by Nicholas Wootton.

 

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