Tide of AFAB Self Determination Law Flashcards
Reproductive Autonomy: Right to procreate
Buck v. Bell (1927): The forced sterilization of a “feeble-minded white woman” does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment
Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942)[Douglas]: Law providing for compulsory sterilization of people convicted of felonies of “moral turpitude” violates the Equal Protection clause.
Griswold v. Connecticut (1967) [Plurality?]
Relevance: Establish that privacy in intimate matters, such as reproduction, is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
Holding: A law prohibiting the use of contraceptives, or assistance in using them, violates the Fourteenth Amendment.
Various provisions of the Bill of Rights create a zone of privacy: First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, Ninth Amendment.
Roe v. Wade (1973) [Blackmun]
Holding: A state law, which criminalizes abortion except for medical emergency, violates the Fourteenth Amendment.
Relevance: Established that the right to privacy encompasses a choice to terminate a pregnancy—overruled by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health (2022).
The right of privacy, whether founded on the Fourteenth Amendments concept of personal liberty, as we feel it is, or the Ninth Amendment, encompasses the choice to terminate a pregnancy. The detriment that the State would impose by denying this choice is evident.
Laws limiting the fundamental right to privacy may be justified only by a compelling state interest.
Trimester Hierarchy
Substantive due process right to privacy and reproductive autonomy- Baird (1972)
Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972): “If the right of privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child.”
Substantive due process right to privacy and reproductive autonomy- Roe (1973)
Roe v. Wade (1973): “The right of privacy, whether founded on the Fourteenth Amendments concept of personal liberty, as we feel it is, or the Ninth Amendment, encompasses the choice to terminate a pregnancy.”
Substantive due process right to privacy and reproductive autonomy - Casey
Planned Parenthood v. Casey: “These matters, involving the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime, choices central to personal dignity and autonomy, are central to the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Loving v. Virginia (1967) [Warren]
Holding: Virginia’s prohibition on interracial marriage violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
It also triggers scrutiny under the due process clause because marriage is a “vital personal right essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.” Even if it applies to people of all racial groups, such an invidious racial classification triggers strict scrutiny under the equal protection clause.
Lawrence v. Texas (2003) [Kennedy]
Holding: A law prohibiting same-gender sexual conduct violates the Due Process Clause.
Relevance: Establishes a fundamental right to engage in consensual intimate conduct, suggests that moral opposition is not a legitimate state interest that can justify criminalizing conduct (overrules Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)).
