Right to Privacy

Right to privacy is implied by the concept of limited government

The Constitution implies some rights to privacy

• 3rd Amendment: No quartering of soldiers in peacetime
• 4th Amendment: Limits on search and seizure
• 5th Amendment: Due process and self incrimination
• 9th Amendment: All unspecified rights are delegated to the people

But there is no explicit guarantee of privacy in the Constitution

Aspects or examples of the Right to Privacy

• Freedom from government intrusion
  • Access to personal information
    • Wiretaps--on when approved by the courts
    • Personal records--right to be kept confidential
• Home--limits on search and seizure
• Body--No forced sterilization
• Right to personal choice
  • Birth control--approved by courts
• Sexual practices
  • Some acts are prohibited by state laws
  • These laws are rarely enforced
• Same sex marriage
• Suicide and euthanasia
  • Some states have laws prohibiting assisted suicide
  • Oregon has a law which allows "death with dignity"

Abortion

• Policy prior to the 1920s
  • Abortion was frequently allowed until the "time of quickening"
• Scientific advancements caused pressure to restrict abortion
  • Better understanding of conception and fetal development
  • Ability to save babies at an earlier date
• Roe v. Wade (1973)
  • Background--Norma McCorvey
    • Raped and pregnant
    • Adoption difficult because child would be racially mixed
    • Texas law prohibited abortion
    • Lawyers selected her as a test case
• Decision (7-2)
  • There is a right to privacy
  • 14th Amendment protection doesn’t apply until birth
  • Specific
    • No restrictions in 1st trimester
    • Regulate procedures in 2nd trimester
    • States can ban in 3rd trimester
• Norma McCorvey today
  • Admitted no rape
  • Works in anti-abortion clinic
• Aftermath of Roe v. Wade
  • Violence--abortion clinic shootings
  • Political battles
  • Legal battles
• Recent developments
  • Use of Medicaid funds for abortions prohibited
  • Spouse and parental consent?--spouse no, parental yes
  • Concern about harvesting fetal tissue--research restricted
  • Abortion techniques--battle over "partial birth abortions"
• The Basic Issue
  • Rights of the fetus vs. Rights of the woman