Sex and Power

How long have condoms been around? (Male-controlled methods)

Condoms have been documented as far back as 1000 BC, with key developments in 1500 AD, the 1700s, 1839, and 1912.

What were female-controlled birth control methods historically?

Female-controlled methods included ancient Egyptian barrier methods, pessaries, the calendar method, and breastfeeding.

What are the Comstock Laws and when were they enacted?

The Comstock Laws were morality-based laws enacted between 1820-1900, with a major law passed in 1873 and related moral legislation beginning in 1869.

What was the significance of Planned Parenthood's founding?

Planned Parenthood was a game changer — it opened its first clinic in Brooklyn in 1916, and in 1921 became The American Birth Control League.

What was the significance of the FDA approving the pill in 1960?

In 1960, the FDA approved oral contraceptive pills, though access came with legal obstacles — described as "a bitter pill to swallow."

What were Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) and Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972)?

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) and Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972) were landmark cases related to contraception rights for married and unmarried people respectively.

What was Lawrence v. Texas (2003)?

Lawrence v. Texas (2003) was a landmark SCOTUS decision ruling that U.S. laws prohibiting private homosexual activity, sodomy, and oral sex between consenting adults are unconstitutional.

What was the battle for emergency contraception?

The fight for emergency contraception access lasted 10 years, with key developments in 2003, 2006, and 2013.

What was Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014)?

In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014), the US Supreme Court ruled that closely held corporations could refuse to cover employee birth control if they held sincerely held religious beliefs.

What did Roe v. Wade (1973) rule?

Roe v. Wade was a 1973 SCOTUS decision that established constitutional protections for abortion access, surviving 52 years and countless challenges before being overturned in 2022.

What did Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) rule?

Dobbs overturned Roe v. Wade, removed the constitutional right to an abortion, and made it easier for states to ban abortion.

Implications of Dobbs: safety-nets and exceptions. What does the Dobbs slide say about protections for rape, incest, or life-threatening pregnancies in states that banned abortion?

In over half of states, there are few safety-nets for cases of rape, incest, or risk to the life of the pregnant person.

Implications of Dobbs: reproductive technology. What reproductive technology issue does the Dobbs slide flag as an implication, and how did the 2024 Alabama Supreme Court ruling illustrate this concern?

Dobbs has implications for reproductive technology, including IVF.

Dobbs has implications for reproductive technology, including IVF. What religious concern does the Dobbs slide raise as an implication of the ruling?

Dobbs assumes all people follow Christian beliefs.

What did the March 2024 Alabama Supreme Court rule about frozen embryos, and what was the legal basis for this ruling?

In March 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children, covered by Alabama's Wrongful Death of a Minor Law.

What is SB-8 and how does it relate to denial of care?

SB-8 made abortion illegal after the 6th week of pregnancy in Texas, with exceptions only when the life of the mother is in danger — but left unanswered who gets to decide: doctors or legislators.

Who are the five individuals named on the "Denial of care = preventable death" slide, and what do their cases represent?

The five women named are Nevaeh Crain (TX), Josseli Bernia (TX), Candi Miller (GA), Porsha Ngumezi (TX), and Amber Nicole Thurman (GA).

Efforts to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act. What does the 2025 slide say about the Affordable Health Care Act as an ongoing threat to reproductive rights?

As of 2025, there are continued efforts to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act.

Religious exemptions from contraception coverage. What does the 2025 slide say about company exemptions from contraception coverage, and what earlier ruling does this connect to?

A clause exists to exempt companies from providing coverage for birth control based on moral and religious objection.

Anti-transgender bills as a reproductive rights threat. How does the 2025 slide connect anti-transgender legislation to reproductive and sexual health justice?

Anti-transgender bills are identified as part of the ongoing war on reproductive and sexual health justice.

What does the 2025 slide say about medication abortion, and why is this significant given the post-Dobbs landscape?

There are active efforts to block medication abortion as of 2025.

Why does the 2025 slide include book banning in a list of threats to reproductive and sexual health justice?

Book banning is listed as part of the current war on reproductive and sexual health justice.

What pathologizing messages about sex do we currently teach? What seven pathologizing messages does the slide identify as what we currently teach about sex?

Current pathologizing messages include:

1. sex is bad and will kill you

2. people who have sex outside marriage are bad/immoral

3. Pregnancy is the worst thing that can happen

4. only heterosexual penis/vagina sex is real sex

5. LGBTQ+ identities are immoral

6. abortion is bad

7. pleasure shall never be discussed.

Affirmative message: sexuality across the lifespan. What does the "New Messages" slide say about when sexuality is relevant across a person's life?

Sexuality is an integral part of life from childhood through our elder years.

Affirmative message: dignity, identity, and access to care. What does the "New Messages" slide say about dignity and access to care as they relate to gender identity and sexual orientation?

Everyone deserves to be recognized as a full human being, deserving of dignity and access to sexual and reproductive education and health care, regardless of gender identity, expression, or sexual orientation.

Affirmative message: healthy relationships and consent. What two affirmative messages does the "New Messages" slide offer about relationships and consent?

Everyone deserves healthy relationships defined by trust and respect, and consent is an essential part of sexuality education.

What does the "New Messages" slide assert about the place of sexuality education in the K-12 school system?

Sexuality education is an integral aspect of K-12 education

What does the "New Messages" slide say about sexual gratification and the right to make decisions about having children?

Everyone deserves a sexual life that is consensual and gratifying, and everyone deserves the right to decide when and if they would like to have children, how many, and how far apart.