A new poll commissioned by the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA) has found overwhelming public support for women’s access to contraception. Eighty-eight percent of respondents supported women’s access to contraception, reports National Public Radio. Of self-identified Republicans, 80 percent supported a women’s right to use birth control, as did 80 percent of respondents who identified themselves as “pro-life.”
The poll results were released on the 40th anniversary of Griswold v. Connecticut, the landmark case that gave married individuals the right to contraception, and which forms the basis of the privacy argument later used to extend that right to unmarried people, and then used in Roe v. Wade. In the 40 years since Griswold, contraception has become an integral part of women’s lives, as 98 percent of women who have had intercourse have used a form of contraception at least once, according to NFPRHA.
The current issue of Ms. Magazine examines Griswold in the context of today’s Supreme Court, and points out that any change to the 5-4 balance in favor of a right to privacy could result in the end of a legally guaranteed right to contraception.
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