The Politics of Birth Control

Contraception has been practiced for centuries worldwide. Women ate herbs or drank brewed roots in order to make themselves sterile. Some couples would practice abstinence and withdrawal, while women inserted objects to prevent pregnancy. (Himes 6-13) These methods were ineffective, and it was not until the 1800s that more reliable methods were created.  However, with the creation of these new contraceptive methods came new laws preventing their use, distribution and even reading about the products. When a woman becomes pregnant, she should have the option to legally keep it or terminate the pregnancy, every woman should have the right to chose what happens to her body, abortion and birth control therefore should be a personal issue not a legal one.

The first law prohibiting the use and distribution of contraceptives was the 1873 Act for the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use (Comstock Act). This Act prohibited the distribution of literature about birth control and authorized search and seizures for those suspected of providing contraceptives or literature about contraception. (Dienes 36-37). Birth control was blamed for promiscuity, prostitution, and all other perceived vices at the time.

Margaret Sanger believed that “the first right of the child was to be wanted” (Dienes, 80), and fought to repeal the Comstock Act, giving poor people access to birth control methods. In 1916, Sanger along with her sister and supporters, opened the first birth control center in the United States, in Brooklyn, New York. However, the clinic was shuttered by the police ten days after opening. Sanger later had a small victory when Judge Crane agreed that phsicians could prescribe birth control to women for therapeutic purposes (Dienes, 86-87).  In 1923, Margaret Sanger legally opened the first birth control clinic in Manhattan. Although Sanger’s reasons for fighting for birth control rights was to increase the population of the white race while controlling the reproduction of undesirable races, a form of eugenic activism, her work made birth control available to poor people who could not previously access these services and she pioneered a movement that helped women of all races gain greater control of their family size (Parenthood).

In 1938, Judge Augustus Hand ruled that the U.S. customs could not prohibit the importation of contraceptives as the 1873 Comstock law was based on inadequate information, however, this was at the Federal level and States could still implement their own rules (Gordon, 227). Women throughout America wanted to get access to birth control even though it was illegal at the State level. This was during the Great Depression and many Americans lived in poverty and welcomed the news of being able to have sex without worrying about more children. In their effort to legalize birth control, the movement blamed urban crime and drug use on overcrowded cities, and the only solution was to limit the number of children born in these areas. They promoted birth control as a means of population control (Gordon, 283).

It was not until 1965 in the Supreme Court case of Griswold versus Connecticut that contraception was decriminalized. The Court ruled that a married couple had a right to privacy while in the confines of their bedroom and it was unreasonable to search and seize items from a couples home (Baer, 98-99). At this time, even though illegal in many states, millions of women were taking the pill which had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat gynecological disorders (Gordon, 288). Single women were given the right to make their own choices regarding reproduction in 1972 when the Supreme Court, in Eisenstadt versus Baird, ruled that as individuals they had a right to privacy just as married women did (Baer, 73).

Today these laws seem archaic, and I am certain that in a few years, abortion laws will seem outdated as well. Women seek out abortions whether legal or not. In 1970, Hawaii, New York and Washington were the only states to offer legalized abortion. When the Supreme Court decriminalized abortion in the case of Roe versus Wade in 1973, this provided women with safe legal options to end their pregnancies. Prior to this ruling, women depended on incompetent and sometimes dangerous individuals who provided the service. At times, they would perform the procedure themselves, which were sometimes fatal. From 1969 to 1973, an underground abortion service, code named Jane, operated illegally to assist women with abortion services, from different backgrounds, races and circumstances (Kaplan, xvii).  States however have varied laws targeting abortion rights, from parental consent to funding. It is very rare that the Supreme Court hears abortion cases, which has resulted in States imposing tight restrictions on clinics and doctors who provide the service (Baker). Today, women should be given the full rights over their bodies.

Works Cited

Baer, Judith A. Historical & Multicultural Encyclopedia of Female Reproductive Rights In the United States. Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated, 2002. Ebook.

Baker, Carrie N. The History of Abortion Law in the United States. 14 September 2020. <https://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book-excerpts/health-article/u-s-abortion-history/>.

Dienes, C. Thomas. Law, Politics, & Birth Control. University of Illinois Press, 1972.

Gordon, Linda. The Moral Property of Women: A History of Birth Control Politics in America. University of Illinois Press, 2002.

Kaplan, Laura. The Story of Jane the Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2019.

Parenthood, Planned. The History & Impact of Planned Parenthood. 2021. <https://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/our-history#:~:text=On%20October%2016%2C%201916%2C%20Sanger,control%20clinic%20in%20Brownsville%2C%20Brooklyn.>.