Fifty years ago this month, the U.S. Supreme Court announced one of its most important decisions of the 1960s. This landmark decision unleashed an era of new opportunities, changing American society and the economy for the better.

Few have heard of it.

That’s because Griswold vs. Connecticut remains one of the Supreme Court’s most underappreciated cases. Griswold’s immediate effect was to legalize the use of contraception for married couples in Connecticut. But it also led to the creation of a national network of family planning clinics and, eventually, near universal legal access to contraceptives for unmarried women. Griswold was more than a legal decision about privacy. It empowered Americans to become more deliberate parents and opened opportunities both to children and adults.