Charles Lee Buxton (October 14, 1904 – July 7, 1969) was an American

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

, professor at the

Yale School of Medicine The Yale School of Medicine is the medical school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. It is the sixth-oldest m ...

, and appellant in

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

case ''

Griswold v. Connecticut ''Griswold v. Connecticut'', 381 U.S. 479 (1965), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects the liberty of married couples to use contraceptives without gove ...

''. He is best known as a birth control advocate and, along with

Estelle Griswold Estelle Naomi Trebert Griswold (June 8, 1900 – August 13, 1981) was a civil rights activist and feminist most commonly known as a defendant in what became the Supreme Court case ''Griswold v. Connecticut'', in which contraception for married c ...

, party to several legal cases that ultimately repealed Connecticut's

Comstock laws The Comstock Act of 1873 is a series of current provisions in federal law that generally criminalize the involvement of the United States Postal Service, its officers, or a common carrier in conveying obscene matter, crime-inciting matter, or c ...

and established a Constitutional

right to privacy The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 185 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. Since the globa ...

for married couples.

Biography

Buxton was born in

Superior, Wisconsin Superior (; ) is a city in Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,751 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the western end of Lake Superior in northwestern Wisconsin, the city l ...

, in 1904 to Edward Timothy Buxton, a lumber trader, and Lucinda Lee Buxton. He grew up in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

, then attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. Buxton graduated with an M.D. from the

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (officially known as Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons) is the medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irvin ...

in 1932. A specialist in female infertility, he joined the Columbia faculty in 1938. He became full professor in 1951, but moved to the

in 1953 when offered a position as chair of its Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. At Yale, he was a fellow of

Jonathan Edwards College Jonathan Edwards College (informally JE) is a residential college at Yale University. It is named for theologian and minister Jonathan Edwards, a 1720 graduate of Yale College. JE's residential quadrangle was the first to be completed in Yale's ...

. Buxton and his wife, Helen Rotch, had four children.

Contraception activism

Upon moving his infertility practice to

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

, Buxton discovered he would be unable to prescribe or supply contraceptives to his patients because of Connecticut's anti-contraception

Comstock law The Comstock Act of 1873 is a series of current provisions in federal law that generally criminalize the involvement of the United States Postal Service, its officers, or a common carrier in conveying obscene matter, crime-inciting matter, or c ...

of 1879, which had been enforced for the first time in 1940. 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. He began working with

of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut in 1955 on their legislative challenge of Connecticut's anti-contraception law, and in 1957 testified in

Connecticut state legislature The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Ther ...

for a doctors' exception to the ban. In the absence of legislative progress, Griswold and Buxton decided to mount a judicial challenge. Supported by

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

professor Fowler Harper and lawyer Katie 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'', and ''Poe v. Ullman''. The

Connecticut Supreme Court The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit i ...

upheld the ban on contraception. On appeal, ''Buxton v. Ullman'' and ''

Poe v. Ullman ''Poe v. Ullman'', 367 U.S. 497 (1961), was a United States Supreme Court case declining to exercise pre-enforcement judicial review of a Connecticut law banning the use of contraceptives and preventing doctors from recommending them. The lawsui ...

'', filed for a patient who had experienced three stillbirths, were accepted by the

in 1960. In June 1961, the cases were dismissed by the court in a 5–4 ruling on the grounds that the case was not

ripe Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE, French for "European IP Networks") is a forum open to all parties with an interest in the technical development of the Internet. The RIPE community's objective is to ensure that the administrative and technical co ...

because the law had not been enforced on the plaintiffs. Immediately after the case, Buxton notified the Yale School of Medicine and Grace–New Haven Hospital that his clinic would begin providing contraceptive advice to patients. 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. Griswold and Buxton were arrested by the New Haven Police nine days after the clinic opened. 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. The appeal, known as
Griswold v. Connecticut
', 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, in

Hamden, Connecticut Hamden is a New England town, town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant (Connecticut), Sleeping Giant". The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region, Connecti ...

Bibliography

Books

*Buxton, C. Lee. (1949). ''Diagnosis and Therapy of Gynecological Endocrine Disorders'' *Buxton, C. Lee; Southam, Anna Lenore Skow. (1958). ''Human Infertility'' *Buxton, C. Lee. (1962). ''A Study of Psychophysical Methods for Relief of Childbirth Pain''

Articles

*Buxton, C. Lee. (1940). "Pregnanediol Determination as An Aid in Clinical Diagnosis." ''American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology'' *Buxton, C. Lee; Engle, E. T. (1950). "Timing of Ovulation." ''American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology'' *Buxton, C. Lee. (1956). "Human Infertility." ''Gynecology & Obstetrics'' *Southam, AL; Buxton, C. Lee (1957). "Factors Influencing Reproductive Potential." ''Fertility & Sterlity'' *Buxton, C. Lee; Weinman, D; Johnson, Carl. (1958). "Epidemiology of Trichomonas Vaginalis Vaginitis: A Progress Report." ''Obstetrics & Gynecology'' *Buxton, C. Lee; Hermann, W. (1961). "Induction of Ovulation in the Human with Human Gonadotropins: Preliminary Report." ''Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey'' *Buxton, C. Lee; Mastrionni, L. (1962). "Surgical Treatment of Infertility." ''Obstetrics & Gynecology''

Notes

References

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