Private: Making the Promise of Griswold a Reality

by Nancy Northup, President and CEO, Center for Reproductive Rights

*This post is part of ACSblog’s symposium honoring the 50th anniversary of Griswold v. Connecticut.

Fifty years ago yesterday, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling that forever changed the legal landscape of our right to plan our families and make private decisions that are fundamental to our lives.  The 1965 case, Griswold v. Connecticut, found that married couples have a constitutional right to obtain and use birth control when planning their families, free from antiquated laws that criminalized their doctors and prevented them from making personal decisions about when and whether to have children.

Griswold’s recognition of a constitutional right to privacy was a first step towards the Court’s subsequent decisions in Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Lawrence v. Texas, which found the right to liberty under the Fourteenth Amendment protects a broad set of liberty rights ― including the rights to bodily integrity, family decision making, and personal dignity and autonomy ― as well as privacy.

But the story does not end there.  Far too many American women still face an uphill battle when trying to plan their families ― including efforts by politicians to choke off women’s access to emergency contraception and defund family planning clinics which provide low or no cost birth control.

Political hurdles such as these are especially high for women living in poor, rural, and immigrant communities ― where access to any health care services can be sparse and the cost of contraception could mean the difference between making the rent and putting food on the table.  And when women don’t have access to reproductive health care, the impact is clear: Nearly half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended or mistimed ― one of the highest amongst developed nations in the world.

It is time for bold action to ensure contraception gets in the hands of every woman who needs it.  One clear and common sense solution is to bring oral contraceptive pills out from behind the pharmacy counter, removing the prescription barriers to this safe and effective birth control method for women of all ages.

The pill is one of the safest and extensively-studied medications on the market today, and medical experts agree that women can safely use the pill without a prescription ― screening themselves for any potential complications or side effects.  In fact, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued a committee opinion in 2012 which supported moving birth control pills from behind the pharmacy counter, stating “OCs should be available over-the-counter.”  And the idea is well-supported by the public, with a 2011 study showing the majority of women favor making oral contraception available over the counter.

Even with the historic advances that have come along with the Affordable Care Act and its expansion of no-copay health coverage for contraception, too many women still face barriers to accessing birth control ― including the need to visit a provider to get a prescription and the fact that birth control is only available when a pharmacy is open.  In addition, one in six women in the United States remains uninsured.

Making birth control available over-the-counter would remove barriers for many women.  But it is essential that any proposed policy solutions address the huge role that cost can play in whether a woman has the ability to plan her family ― specifically by ensuring that any birth control that moves over the counter remains affordable and covered by insurance.  For example, the recently introduced “Allowing Greater Access to Safe and Effective Contraception Act” is part of this conversation, but it falls short in two key ways:  precluding young women and those without ID from accessing birth control over-the-counter and failing to maintain insurance coverage for birth control pills available without a prescription.

All women have a right to access birth control.  We can fulfill the promise of Griswold and ensure that right exists by passing legislation that ensures that all women ― regardless of their income, insurance coverage, age, or immigration status ― have access to affordable birth control that best meets their needs.

Individual liberties, Reproductive Rights, Supreme Court, Women's rights