It wasn't *that* long ago that birth control products were ILLEGAL.

[Lex]

Even for married people.

It was in the 1960's (seriously) that the US Supreme Court said it was a basic privacy right to have birth control methods available. Up to then, birth control was illegal in some states.


So how far back are the right-wing nutjobs willing to push the clock?

[napi21]

1. I think they really want to go back to the colonial days.

That seems like their dream, although I suspect they realize they could never quite accomplish THAT!

Really, they would love it if BC were illegal, along with abortion, civil rights, equal rights, and of course bring back abolition!

[renaissanceguy]

3. They'll go as far as

putting cameras in your bedroom to make sure that you are having sex with an opposite-sex spouse, in the missionary position, only to procreate.


http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.21326737

[NMDemDist2]

13. in the dark with your nightclothes on for modesty

don't forget

[kath]

19. yeah, close your eyes and think of England!

[RPM]

22. that's from a song somewhere no?

it's rattling in my head like it is....

[suigeneris]

15. Right, that's called sex with a

government approved partner.

[getmeouttahere]

2. There's no limit to have far backward they will take us....

their record speaks for itself

[DBoon]

4. Griswold v. Connecticut

in the mid-1960s used the right of privacy to strike down laws that prevented married couples from obtaining birth control.

A later decision extended the right to unmarried couples.

Rove v. Wade included pregnancy termination.

If Rove v. Wade is overthrown, I believe these precedents are weakened.

We may end up with birth control being illegal in some states, and restricted in others.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

7. Sticky Ricky Santorum railed against this very decision.

He claimed it was a slippery slope.

[Robert Oak]

5. 1896 I believe

that's when the robber barrons had a strangle hold on the country, there was child labor, no workers rights, no social safety nets and women
were property and could be beaten legally by their husbands.

[TheFarseer]

6. I want to say people will draw the line at that

but people are such zombies these days, they might just roll over and take it. I'd have to say people would oppose that in polls by a wide margin, but would they vote on it?

[kestrel91316]

8. Scarier yet, it was in the 70's! Not the 60's.

[Lex]

20. Griswold v Connecticut was a 1960's case I think.

It established the right of privacy to have birth control for married couples.

[kestrel91316]

21. I don't think we unpersons (singles) got the right to BC

until about 1972, can't recall the case, I think it went to the SC.

[Lex]

23. Ah, okay, I see.

Crazy, isn't it? Just that short a time ago . . .

[firefox]

9. In Ireland

Homosexuality was only decriminalised in this country in 1993. In fact, up until 1861, the crime of sodomy was punishable by death. This persecution was inflicted on the grounds that homosexuality was damaging to society; that it was damaging to health; that it lead people into even greater "depravity"; and that legalising it might send out the "wrong message". And so gay people were persecuted, causing huge suffering and disruption to thousands of people and destroying the lives and reputations of such figures as Oscar Wilde and Roger Casement. When homosexuality was legalised, society did not collapse; indeed, most people now find it hard to understand how a civilised society could inflict such persecution.

The sale of condoms was illegal in this country up until 1979. Even after that, it was not until 1989 that it was made legal for unmarried people to buy them. The reasoning of people such as Charles J. Haughey on this issue was that this would discourage sex outside marriage. The idiocy of this is obvious: apart from the fact that this was an unwarranted imposition of religious "morals" in a secular state, it did not work as a deterrent. Instead, it meant that unmarried people quite often could not get access to contraception, even on the black market, and had to endure all the problems that naturally ensued from this. Again, we were told that sex outside marriage would spell the end of civilisation; that it was damaging to health (which it can be – without protection!); that it caused a deterioration of morals in other areas; and that legalising it would send out the message that promiscuous sex was acceptable.

link: http://www.cannabisireland.com/why.html

[kestrel91316]

10. I think there are those of them who truly wish to return to...............

the Dark Ages, times of Inquisition and plague and ignorance.

Goddess help us all.

[catzies]

11. Kicked and nominated to make people think about this.

C'mon people, these are the folks who are working hard to bring you...a better yesterday?

[Warren DeMontague]

12. They're positively priapic at the thought of overturning Griswold.

They'll push the clock back to Torquemada, if they can. They may stop short of burning people at the stake for saying the Earth is round, but that's probably about it.

[getmeouttahere]

14. Who has the wherewithal to get an underground railroad started?

we should get something like that going now, for women who will need access to birth control/abortion. I'm certainly willing to contribute whatever I can to that cause.

[DELUSIONAL]

16. Even in the 70s in New England

anyone wanting any "over the counter" birth control products (condoms or foam etc) had to go the the pharmacists and ask . . . .

married people had to ask -- as did teenagers -- anyone who wanted common, ordinary condoms. Very often the clerks were less than helpful -- or were very judgmental. This according to my sister-in-law.

Now condoms etc can be found on the isles of drug stores and even grocery stores.

The 1970s were not that long ago.

[getmeouttahere]

17. But of course, if its a male form of birth control

it's readily avaiable, but a female method, it's practically like getting your driver's license, actually harder if you think about it. A pain in the ass regardless.

[NMMNG]

18. Well, women wouldn't need that stuff if they'd keep their legs crossed

Like a decent, proper woman should!