Right to Privacy- Supreme Court Cases

Griswold v. Connecticut

1965. Although there is no explicit right to privacy in the Constitution, Griswold decided that the Bill of Rights contains an "implied right to privacy" applicable to all Americans. States can't ban contraception.

Roe v. Wade

1973. Based on the right to privacy in the Griswold decision, Roe v. Wade gave women the right to have an abortion and established guidelines which divided a pregnancy by trimester.

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services

1987. Did not overturn Roe v. Wade, but gave states more power to regulate abortion.

Planned Parenthood v. Casey

1992. State laws can't require a woman to tell her husband before aborting a pregnancy, but women are required to have parental consent and a 24-hour waiting period. State regulations on abortion can't impose an "undue burden"

Lawrence v. Texas

Texas law banning homosexual sodomy is unconstitutional and violates the right to privacy. Lawrence overturned Bowers v. Hardwick which did not find a Constitutional protection of sexual privacy.