March 22, 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Eisenstadt v. Baird. This Supreme Court ruling held that single people had the same right to contraceptives that married couples gained in a 1965 decision by the high court. In recent years, however, there have been some efforts to limit, rather than expand, access to birth control in addition to measures to do the same with abortion.
Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, individual states, and sometimes the federal government, have either curtailed reproductive rights or attempted to do so. According to press releases from Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, in February of this year Gov. Mike Parson signed a supplemental budget bill that attempts to “defund” Planned Parenthood by preventing Medicaid patients from accessing care at its health centers. A previous attempt was ruled unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court, as federal Medicaid Law permits recipients to receive care from any provider they choose. Planned Parenthood fought back by suing Gov. Parson over his recent decision.
During the administration of former President Trump, there were directives to hamper family planning programs by issuing regulations that forced some health centers to choose between receiving funds from the Title X Program (which provides federal money for family planning), or continuing to provide referrals for abortions in addition to family planning services. According to an October 21,2021 article in the Washington Post by Amy Goldstein, about one in four health centers decided to forgo Title X funds rather than comply with the regulations.
Recently, the Biden administration rolled back those rules in the fall of 2021, enabling family planning clinics to continue receiving Title X money even if they make abortion referrals. These recent examples show us that we need to be vigilant to ensure that equal access to contraception and other types of health care become and remain a reality.
On the 45th anniversary of the Eisenstadt decision, WWHP featured a newsletter article describing the events leading up to it.