How did the Supreme Court decide Roe v. Wade? On what parts of the Constitution did they base their decision?
by 
ajim salazar
ANSWERS: 2
-
The Oyez project presents this constitutional question and answer: Q: Does the Constitution embrace a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy by abortion? A: The Court held that a woman's right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy (recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut) protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision gave a woman total autonomy over the pregnancy during the first trimester and defined different levels of state interest for the second and third trimesters. As a result, the laws of 46 states were affected by the Court's ruling. See http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/334/ for more information, including digital audio of the arguments in the case.
-
The fourth amendment declares "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures..." The court has taken this and some more obscure phrases to construct what they call a "right to privacy" included in a "penumbra" of implied rights in the Constitution. In Roe v. Wade they ruled, in essence, that abortion is a privacy issue, not a medical or human rights issue. Yes, I know I have oversimplified, but I believe this is the essence of the Constitutional case. This site has a lengthy treatment of the case history from a pro-life perspective. I assume the actual quotes and cites are real, but I have not verified them myself. http://www.rightgrrl.com/carolyn/roe.html
RELATED QUESTIONS
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC