C. Lee Buxton | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charles Lee Buxton (1904-10-14)October 14, 1904 |
| Died | July 7, 1969(1969-07-07) (aged 64) |
| Occupation(s) | gynecologist, professor |
| Known for | Birth control advocacy,Griswold v. Connecticut |
Charles Lee Buxton (October 14, 1904 – July 7, 1969) was an Americangynecologist, professor at theYale School of Medicine, and appellant inUS Supreme Court caseGriswold v. Connecticut. He is best known as a birth control advocate and, along withEstelle Griswold, party to several legal cases that ultimately repealed Connecticut'sComstock laws and established a Constitutionalright to privacy for married couples.
Buxton was born inSuperior, Wisconsin, in 1904 to Edward Timothy Buxton, a lumber trader, and Lucinda Lee Buxton. He grew up inSt. Paul, Minnesota, then attendedPrinceton University.[1] Buxton graduated with an M.D. from theColumbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1932.[2] A specialist in female infertility, he joined the Columbia faculty in 1938. He became full professor in 1951, but moved to theYale School of Medicine in 1953 when offered a position as chair of its Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology.[2] At Yale, he was a fellow ofJonathan Edwards College.[3]
Buxton and his wife, Helen Rotch, had four children.[3]
Upon moving his infertility practice toNew Haven, Buxton discovered he would be unable to prescribe or supply contraceptives to his patients because of Connecticut's anti-contraceptionComstock law of 1879, which had been enforced for the first time in 1940.[4] The prohibition extended to his patients whose lives were threatened by pregnancy and those who had experienced serial miscarriages, cases which stirred Buxton to action, and later formed the basis of a legal challenge.[5] He began working withEstelle Griswold of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut in 1955 on their legislative challenge of Connecticut's anti-contraception law, and in 1957 testified inConnecticut state legislature for a doctors' exception to the ban.[6] In the absence of legislative progress, Griswold and Buxton decided to mount a judicial challenge. Supported byYale Law School professorFowler Harper and lawyerKatie Roraback, they filed five cases on behalf of Buxton and four anonymous patients:Buxton v. Ullman,Hoe v. Ullman,Roe v. Hullman,Doe v. Ullman, andPoe v. Ullman.[7] TheConnecticut Supreme Court upheld the ban on contraception. On appeal,Buxton v. Ullman andPoe v. Ullman, filed for a patient who had experienced three stillbirths, were accepted by theUS Supreme Court in 1960. In June 1961, the cases were dismissed by the court in a 5–4 ruling on the grounds that the case was notripe because the law had not been enforced on the plaintiffs.
Immediately after the case, Buxton notified the Yale School of Medicine andGrace–New Haven Hospital that his clinic would begin providing contraceptive advice to patients.[8][9] In November 1961, Griswold announced the opening new New Haven Planned Parenthood headquarters building with a family planning clinic, with Buxton as its medical director.[10] Griswold and Buxton were arrested by theNew Haven Police nine days after the clinic opened.[11] The resulting case against Buxton and Lee,The State of Connecticut v. Estelle T. Griswold and C. Lee Buxton, was affirmed by the Connecticut Supreme Court in April 1964, providing evidence that the case was ripe.[12] The appeal, known asWhitney v. Griswold, was heard by the US Supreme Court one year later and overturned in a 7–2 ruling, finding the original anti-contraception statute unconstitutional because it violated "the right to marital privacy."
Buxton's health began to fail towards the end of the appeal. In 1965, he took a leave of absence from Yale. He died on July 7, 1969, inHamden, Connecticut.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
