Our Right to Contraception and Our Right to Privacy

December 13, 2023

Attorney Jonathan Mitchell is dedicated to eroding our human rights. He’s the architect of Texas’ so-called “bounty hunter” abortion ban, and he’s defended local officials who’ve been sued over the removal of public library books. Now, he’s litigating Deanda v. Becerra to attack teenagers’ access to contraception.

In Deanda, a Texas Christian father of three adolescent girls is suing the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs for the United States. Why? Because he claims that the federal Title X family planning program, which bars Title X clinic staff from telling parents that their child is seeking contraception, violates his constitutional rights as a parent.

Imani Gandy notes that for the past 40 years, appeals courts have had the same answer to Deanda’s argument: no. Courts have consistently ruled that family participation for children seeking contraception is encouraged, “to the extent practical,” but not required. Mitchell, Deanda’s attorney, is arguing to reshape the law, to the detriment of teenagers and their fundamental rights to privacy and sexual freedom.

Unlike Mitchell, we at the Woodhull Freedom Foundation are unequivocally pro-abortion, anti-censorship, and pro-contraception. Teenagers, like Deanda’s daughters, deserve to be able to make critical decisions about their health, lives, and futures without their parents’ knowledge.