Why birth control access is under threat in the U.S.
Now that abortion care is no longer protected by the U.S. constitution, many Americans are wondering where their bodily autonomy stands — and if the Supreme Court keeps to its word, Roe V. Wade is just the beginning.
By overturning the right to abortion, the Supreme Court has placed the fundamental right to privacy articulated in the Fourteenth Amendment under scrutiny. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has already stated that rulings surrounding contraception and gay rights should be reconsidered, citing protections granted by the decisions in Griswold vs. Connecticut, Lawerence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges, which gave married couples the right to contraceptives, the right to engage in private sexual acts and the right to same-sex marriage, respectively.
At the moment, contraceptives like Plan B and IUDs are looking to be the next battleground for lawmakers. Elizabeth Ruzzo, founder and CEO of Adyn, a women’s healthcare company that created the first test designed to prevent birth control side effects, believes that the political and ideological push to deny Americans’ right to abortions and possibly contraceptives is rooted in control.
“These motivations are not based on caring about communities or the financial interests of our economy,” says Ruzzo. “Communities are more prosperous when contraceptives are available, but politicians are pushing for this because of power.”
And exercising that power will hurt and cost the lives of the most vulnerable groups in this country, whether they are women of color, trans men, non-binary people or people with disabilities.
“The folks that oppose abortion are also coming for contraception, sex education, trans rights and more,” says Rachel Fey, vice president of public policy at Power to Decide, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for the right to prevent unplanned pregnancy. “And the barriers and assault on contraceptive access have already been happening for quite some time, particularly for people who are struggling to make ends meet.”
