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Presidents and first ladies aren’t immune from the joys, sorrows and unexpected events surrounding parenthood. What about the parenting experiences of presidents who appointed Supreme Court justices whose votes decided cases related to childbearing? 

John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic president, nominated Justices Byron White and Arthur Goldberg to the high tribunal. Contraception and abortion weren’t on the political agenda when JFK ran for office in 1960 or during his truncated presidency. JFK and his wife Jacqueline, at ages 43 and 31, respectively, when they entered the White House, were in their prime family-raising years. They remain the only first couple to have a child between the election and inauguration, John Jr., born in late November 1960. They wanted a large brood, but Mrs. Kennedy suffered a miscarriage and a stillbirth prior to their daughter Caroline’s 1957 arrival. The president and first lady rejoiced when Jackie became pregnant in 1963 but were devastated when their premature son, Patrick, died barely two days after his birth.

Whether the Kennedys agreed with their religion’s prohibition against artificial birth control and abortion is unknown, but JFK’s two nominees to the Supreme Court, neither of whom was Catholic, both voted in 1965 to strike down Connecticut’s ban on contraception even for married couples. White, however, was one of only two justices who dissented from 1973’s Roe v. Wade decision establishing a right to abortion.

Infamously, JFK had a relationship with White House intern, Mimi Beardsley, who reports that they had “unprotected” sexual encounters. When she thought she might be pregnant, a presidential enabler reportedly began abortion arrangements, despite its illegality. The false pregnancy alarm spared the college student from having to proceed with the plan.

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