TITLE X RULING PROVES WHAT WE ALREADY KNEW

(March 12, 2024) – Today, the Fifth Circuit ruled that parents can deny their children access to birth control, despite their right to contraceptives enshrined in Title X. Take Back the Court released the following statement on behalf of its president, Sarah Lipton-Lubet, in response to the news:

“From the moment we learned of the Republican Supreme Court justices' plan to overturn Roe, we've been warning birth control was next. This has never been about abortion, and it's certainly not about parenting. As the right-wing activists on the 5th Ccircuit made clear in oral arguments, it's all about controlling women’s and girls' bodies. We won't regain our freedom until we reform the judiciary.”

When the case was appealed, the radical Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals judges made several comments during oral arguments that revealing their mindset on the subject matter of the case, including:

Judge Haynes: “It’s my understanding periods can start pretty young, not five, but some even I think 8- or 9-year-olds get their periods. So it’s not 15. 10 is pretty common. So it is not that old that these young girls need to be old enough to get pregnant should they have this interaction with this other guy. […] Because once she’s gone and had sex with someone, she’s not a virgin when she gets married.”

Judge Duncan: “If she did receive contraceptives without my knowledge, that interferes in a dramatic way with my ability to parent, because the child now has a means of engaging in sexual activity and avoiding certain consequences of it.”

Learn more about the case on Substack.

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