In the Courts

• 1916- Margaret Sanger opens the first birth control clinic. She is promptly arrested and jailed on obscenity charges.

• 1936- Margaret Sanger orders pessaries (diaphragms) from a Japanese doctor. The U.S. government confiscates the shipment of diaphragms. After a long court battle, the Court eventually dismisses the charges.

• 1965- the United States Supreme Court issues Griswold v. Connecticut. For the first time, married couples have the constitutional right to use contraception.

• 1972- the Supreme Court, in Eisenstadt v. Baird, grants unmarried couples the constitutional right to use birth control.
  
  
• 1977- Carey v. Population Services International, extends to minors the constitutionally protected right of privacy to use birth control

• 1978- In response to lawsuits by women across the country, Congress enacts the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Recognizing that health benefits are an important part of an individual's job, the law requires employer health insurance plans to cover pregnancy and women's related medical needs on an equal basis with other benefits.
  
  
• July 19,2000- Planned Parenthood files Erickson v. Bartell Drug Co. in federal court in Seattle. This landmark case alleges it is sex discrimination for an employer to exclude prescription contraception from an employee health plan that covers other prescription drugs. Stay tuned for news about this groundbreaking case.

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