Eisenstadt v. Baird
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| Eisenstadt v. Baird | |
| Court | Supreme Court of the United States |
|---|---|
| Citation | |
| Date decided | March 22, 1972 |
| Appealed from | Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court |
| Followed | Griswold v. Connecticut |
| Cited by | |
| Roe v. Wade | |
Facts
In the 1960s, William Baird handed out contraceptives to whoever wanted them in Boston, Massachusetts.
Issues
Can Massachusetts criminalize distribution of contraceptives to unmarried couples?
Holding
William Brennan held, "If the right of privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child."
Reasons
The right of unmarried couples to use contraceptive rests on the Equal Protection Clause according to SCOTUS.
Comments
- Constitutional_Law_Maggs/4th_ed._Outline_II#Griswold_v._Connecticut_Right_to_Intimate_Relations.2FPrivacy
- Unlike Griswold v. Connecticut, Eisenstadt v. Baird deals with the right of unmarried heteronormative couples to possess contraceptives.
