Birth Control

Birth Control became legal in Connecticut in 1965, Griswold v. Connecticut, if you really think, it seems impossible that birth control was ever illegal in this country.

 The Connecticut law stated: Any person who uses any drug, medicinal article, or instrument for the purpose of preventing conception shall be fined not less than 50 dollars, or imprisoned not less than 60 days, or more than I year, or be both fined and imprisoned.

In 1873, the Comstock Law outlawed the distribution of information about safe sex and the use of contraceptives.

 In 1914 Margaret Sanger began to provide women with information and contraceptives, she coined the term, Birth Control. The nurse, sex educator, and writer, was prosecuted for her book, Family Limitation. She escaped to Great Britain for a while, returned in 1916 and opened the first birth control clinic. Opponents of Margaret Sanger accused her of wanting to eliminate the black race when she tried to help black women with birth control.  She became the first president of Planned Parenthood and served until she was 80 years old.

Still the country, at least the men running this country fought against birth control.” Free love,” was the term associated with birth control, funny since in the 1960’s during the “Women’s Liberation” movement, the term Free Love was used often. I guess sex without pregnancy was free love. That was likely what men who were fighting against the movement were afraid of, that they couldn’t always be sure of what their women were up to, after all, she could have sex and not be pregnant.

Anyway, birth control was not illegal in every state but was certainly discouraged, and difficult to obtain, until 1965. Young girls, today, should be aware that laws change according to who is in office, and some of the fanatically religious Republicans in Congress today might take away birth control, given the chance. After all, they think women’s reproductive rights are everybody’s business, and that needs to change.