Xander ,'Lessons'
To be determined... (but it's definitely [NAFDA])
Mad Men: I was talking to a friend who is an attorney and I had no idea that it was v. likely that contraceptives were illegal for unmarried women at that time.
And did you guys think that Draper's wife's disorder was a panic attack? I thought it was going to be something like ms which had to have been really difficult to diagnose and pretty much untreatable at the time. (Or so I would guess.)
Mad Men: I was talking to a friend who is an attorney and I had no idea that it was v. likely that contraceptives were illegal for unmarried women at that time.
Birth control in general was illegal in some states until 1965.
It was a completely different world back then. Was New York one of those states?
Anyway, the case was Griswold vs. Connecticut - where Griswold was convicted for providing information about contraceptives to married couples.
They should just name the kid after Johnny, get a dna test and be done with it.
I agree with the first half of that. Would a DNA test be able to distinguish which brother was the father? Brothers have a lot of genes in common.
The court didn't rule on contraceptives for unmarried persons until 1973, in Eisenstadt v. Baird.
My mom was almost forced to quit her job when she was pregnant with me - in 1974. I was shocked when I found out. It was considered wrong/bad/whatever for children to be exposed to such a pregnant woman. (I guess because it was obvious that she was having sex? With her husband?)
Anyway, my dad the law student wrote a memo appealing their decision and they let her stay until the end of the year (although I was born a month early so that was the end of that).
eta for clarity - my mom was a 4th grade teacher
ISTR that the contraceptives law was not that common or not frequently enforced-- akin to sodomy laws. But I haven't seen Mad Men yet.
Do you know what the law was in New York? I understand it was a state by state deal.
I was also appalled that Don could call up his wife's shrink and get the lowdown on her session from him.
I believe it was legal for doctors to prescribe in NY (where M. Sanger opened a clinic in the 1920s). I think Connecticut and Massachusetts may have been the only states where it was illegal.
I know my parents had to go to a court hearing with their doctor and minister get permission for my dad to get a vasectomy back in the early '60s. They had to prove that the reason they were getting it was to save my mother's life and that they were of good character.