Estelle Griswold : Challenging the Law With Contraceptives

The state of Connecticut had banned contraceptives in an 1879 law: "Any person who uses any drug, medicinal article or instrument for the purposes of preventing conception shall be fined.¨ Griswold the executive director of Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, and Dr. C. Lee Buxton were arrested and found guilty as accessories to providing illegal contraception. Sure it was a deliberate act of civil disobedience during the time... but why? This was due to the ongoing laws in the 1960s that any form of contraceptives was considered illegal if a nonmarried woman were to use it. After their arguments finally had the chance to be heard in the Supreme Court they had invalidated the law on the grounds that it violated the "right to marital privacy." So contraception was legal--at least for married women. In the year of 1972 is when the law had finally made a change for the better for all intimate relationships, and no longer strictly married couples. The ability to avoid unwanted births and to plan and space pregnancies improved the health of mothers and infants and helped make it easier for women to obtain a better education and to pursue more challenging careers. The concept of the right to privacy benefited both men and women, who felt liberated to make their own decisions about their lifestyles without fear of persecution by the states. Were Griswold's actions of giving out contraceptives from her clinic justified?