Eisenstadt v. Baird

BACKGROUND: The Griswold decision had established the right of married couples to use contraception in 1965. However, a Massachusetts law still made it a felony for anyone to give a contraceptive drug or device to any unmarried person in order to prevent conception.

Under the state law, William Baird was convicted of exhibiting contraceptive articles during a lecture on contraception to a group of students at Boston University and of giving a young woman a package of vaginal foam at the end of the lecture. Maximum penalty under the law was 5 years imprisonment. Upon conviction Baird appealed, and the case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

THE CASE: The Court rejected the state's claim that the statute was a health measure. In its 1972 decision, the Court held that the law permitting married couples to obtain contraceptives to prevent pregnancy, while prohibiting unmarried individuals the same ability, violated equal protection under the law.

Justice Brennan, writing for the majority, stated "it would be plainly unreasonable to assume that Massachusetts has prescribed pregnancy and the birth of an unwanted child as punishment for fornication." In essence, deterring sexual activity was found to be insufficient justification for the state to restrict a woman's freedom to choose whether to conceive or bear a child.

IMPACT: The case recognized that unmarried couples have a constitutionally protected right of privacy to choose contraception.

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