49 Years Ago, the Door Opened For Women’s Reproductive Rights. We Can’t Go Back Now.

49 Years Ago, the Door Opened For Women’s Reproductive Rights. We Can’t Go Back Now.
by Robin Marty
June 4, 2014

Saturday, June 7, marks the 49th anniversary of Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court case that granted married couples the right to use birth control to prevent pregnancy. Of course, preventing and ending pregnancies had been occurring for centuries secretly or not so much through home remedies, herbal concoctions and eventually even assistance from medical professionals. Still, Griswold became the first case where the courts weighed in on privacy when it comes to reproduction, and would eventually lead to single people being able to purchase and use contraception, as well as the eventual decision to allow abortion to become legal.

With reproductive rights becoming alarmingly endangered through recent legislative measures on both state and federal levels, it makes sense to commit ourselves to remembering where we started and how far we have come. That’s one of the goals behind the “Reproductive Justice Walking Tour,” a project of Words of Choice, a pro-choice theater group out of New York City. The tour, which is scheduled to take place on the anniversary of the Griswold ruling, will take participants through Tribeca, Soho and Greenwich Village, where they will interact with actors and reproductive rights advocates who will tell local stories of the movement for reproductive justice.

I spoke with Cindy Cooper, executive director of Words of Choice, to learn more about the tour and and its goals for raising awareness of the recent history of and current battles involving reproductive rights....

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/49-years-ago-the-door-opened-for-womens-reproductive-rights-we-cant-go-back-now.html#ixzz33iUpLs7c