In 1965 the Supreme Court upheld the right of married couples to seek contraception in the landmark case Griswold v. Connecticut. Seven years later this right was extended to unmarried couples. Then in 1973 the right to safe, legal abortion was affirmed in Roe v. Wade.

Efforts to overturn or override these decisions and to restrict access to contraception and abortion services have been ceaseless. In 1976, Congress passed the Hyde Amendment, eliminating federal funding of abortions for women on Medicaid and sharply reducing their access to abortion services. After the 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, state requirements for parental involvement and waiting periods proliferated; these requirements overwhelmingly affect the most vulnerable women and women with the fewest resources: young, rural, low-income, and working women.

Contraceptive technology research has moved very slowly since the release of oral contraceptives in 1960. Many pharmaceutical research entities have shied away from such work because of the legal roadblocks they know they will encounter from those who oppose even the most basic methods of family planning. Health plans routinely fail to include coverage for contraception although it is part of basic health care for women. Largely as a result, women of reproductive age pay 68% more in out-of-pocket costs for health care services than do men of the same age.