Sex and gender

Mother Jones - Friday marked the 59-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, the case that confirmed the right of married people to use contraception.That decision established the right to privacy, which gave rise to later court decisions on the right for unmarried people to use contraception without government interference; the right to abortion (which was, of course, overruled by the Dobbs decision); and other rights, including same-sex marriage.

But now, nearly six decades later, access to birth control, and many of the other rights that it helped establish, are under threat from the GOP—despite the fact that 90 percent of American women have used contraception. In the 2022 Dobbs decision, Justice Clarence Thomas made clear that to some in the GOP, a birth-control-less future is the goal: In his concurring opinion, he called for the court to “reconsider” Griswold, all but saying that they should revoke not just the right to contraception, but also the rights to marriage equality, and intimate sexual relationships, all of which he called “demonstrably erroneous.” Under the second term of a Trump presidency, this reality could very well come to pass—and the GOP is already laying the groundwork.