June 7: On This Day in 1965 - Birth Control Ban Struck Down

Estelle GriswoldJune 7, 1965: In Griswold v. Connecticut, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Connecticut law banning contraception. By a vote of 7-2, the Supreme Court invalidated the law on the grounds that it violated the "right to marital privacy."

This ruling guaranteed the right to privacy, including the freedom from government intrusion into matters of birth control. Since Griswold, the Supreme Court has cited the right to privacy in several rulings, most notably in Roe v. Wade.