Eisenstadt v. Baird

A Massachusetts statute made it illegal to give “drugs, medicine, instrument or article whatever for the prevention of contraception” to any unmarried person. The plaintiff, found guilty of violating the statute, challenged its constitutionality, claiming it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14 ^th Amendment. The Court held that a statute preventing unmarried people from obtaining contraception was unconstitutional. The Court found that unequal access to contraception for married and unmarried people created a suspect class in violation of the Equal Protection Clause and the right to privacy as discussed in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) .

Topics