Griswold v Connecticut

What it is

Estelle Griswold, the executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut opened a clinic located in New Haven in direct violation of the laws that had been set in 1961. She and a medical volunteer were arrested a week after it opened. The Supreme Court sided with Griswold and declared that contraception is a matter of privacy between married couples.

Who was involved

  • Estelle Griswold: defendant, executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut

  • Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut: defendant with Estelle Griswold

  • Thomas I. Emerson: argued for Estelle and PPLC

  • Joseph B Clark: argued for the state of Massachusetts

What was the result

The judges ruled 7-2 that the Constitution did protect marital privacy despite state law. They said that even though the Constitution does not directly give the right to privacy, the combination of specific amendments gives that right. This ruling gave married couples the right to all forms of birth control.