Right to Privacy

Explain the background of Lawrence v. Texas

Responding to a reported weapons disturbance in a private residence, Houston police entered John Lawrence's apartment and saw him and another adult man, Tyron Garner, engaging in a private, consensual sexual act. Lawrence and Garner were arrested and convicted of deviate sexual intercourse in violation of a Texas statute forbidding two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct.

Explain the background to Roe v. Wade

Roe, a Texas resident, sought to terminate her pregnancy by abortion. Texas law prohibited abortions except to save the pregnant woman's life. After granting certiorari, the Court heard arguments twice.

What did the plaintiff's argue in Gonzales v. Carhart?

The Act's lack of an exception for abortions necessary to protect the health of the mother rendered it unconstitutional under the Supreme Court's decision in Stenberg v. Carhart.

What was the Court's holding in Roe v. Wade?

The Court held that a woman's right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.

What was the Court's holding in Gonzales v. Carhart?

The Court held that, under the most reasonable interpretation, the Act applies only to the intact D&E method (also known as "partial-birth abortion") and not to the more common D&E procedure. The Act's application was limited by provisions that restrict enforcement to cases where the physician intends to perform an intact D&E and delivers the still-living fetus past specific "anatomical landmarks." Because the majority found that the Act applies only to a specific method of abortion, it held that the ban was not unconstitutionally vague, overbroad, or an undue burden on the decision to obtain an abortion.

What distinction did the Court make in Maher v. Roe?

The Court noted that there was a distinction between direct state interference with a protected activity and "state encouragement of alternative activity consonant with legislative policy."

What did the Court rule in Gonzales v. Carhart?

The Court ruled by a 5-4 vote that Congress's ban on partial-birth abortion was not unconstitutionally vague and did not impose an undue burden on the right to an abortion.

What was the Court's holding in Maher v. Roe?

The Court ruled in favor of Maher

Explain the background of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey

The Pennsylvania legislature amended its abortion control law in 1988 and 1989. Among the new provisions, the law required informed consent and a 24 hour waiting period prior to the procedure. A minor seeking an abortion required the consent of one parent (the law allows for a judicial bypass procedure). A married woman seeking an abortion had to indicate that she notified her husband of her intention to abort the fetus. These provisions were challenged by several abortion clinics and physicians.

Explain the Court's reasoning in Lawrence v. Texas

"Their right to liberty under the Due Process Clause gives them the full right to engage in their conduct without intervention of the government," wrote Justice Kennedy. "The Texas statute furthers no legitimate state interest which can justify its intrusion into the personal and private life of the individual," continued Justice Kennedy.

What was the Court's holding in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt?

5-3 majority, which held that the provisions of H.B. 2 at issue do not confer medical benefits that are sufficient to justify the burdens they impose on women seeking to exercise their constitutional right to an abortion. Therefore, the provisions unconstitutionally impose an undue burden

What was the Court's holding in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey

5-to-4 decision, the Court again reaffirmed Roe, but it upheld most of the Pennsylvania provisions.

Justice Scalia dissented in Lawrence v. Texas. What was his reasoning?

Argues that the conditions that were established that allowed them to overturn Bowers apply to Roe v. Wade as well. He says overturning Bowers entails a massive social disruption.

What case did the Court overturn in Lawrence v. Texas?

Bowers v. Hardwick

What did Justice Ginsburg say in her concurrence in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt?

Ginsburg wrote that modern abortions are so safe relative to other medical procedures, including childbirth itself, that any law that made accessing abortions more difficult in the name of safety could not pass judicial review.

What was Justice Ginsburg's reasoning for dissenting in Gonzales v. Carhart?

Ginsburg's dissent disputed the majority's claim that the opinion was consistent with the Casey and Stenberg precedents and said "The Court's hostility to the right Roe and Casey secured is not concealed."

Explain Justice Thomas's reason for dissenting in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt

He argued that this case should never have made it to the Supreme Court because the Court normally did not allow suits by third parties to vindicate the rights of others. Additionally, the majority opinion misconstrued the undue burden test as requiring courts to apply a standard of review similar to strict scrutiny in assessing laws that regulate abortions, despite the fact that there was no precedential support for that level of scrutiny in these cases.

Explain the background of Maher v. Roe

In the wake of Roe v. Wade, the Connecticut Welfare Department issued regulations limiting state Medicaid benefits for first-trimester abortions to those that were "medically necessary." An indigent woman ("Susan Roe") challenged the regulations and sued Edward Maher, the Commissioner of Social Services in Connecticut.

What did the government argue in Gonzales v. Carhart?

The government argued that the Act only bans a narrow category of abortion procedures, and that a health exception is not required when Congress determines that a banned abortion procedure is never necessary for the health of the mother.

In Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, what new standard did the justices impose to determine the validity of laws restricting abortions?

The new standard asks whether a state abortion regulation has the purpose or effect of imposing an "undue burden," which is defined as a "substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion before the fetus attains viability."

What was the Court's reasoning in Maher v. Roe?

Court held that the Connecticut law placed no obstacles in the pregnant woman's path to an abortion,​ and that it did not "impinge upon the fundamental right recognized in Roe." Holding that financial need alone did not identify a suspect class under the Equal Protection Clause, the Court found that the law was "rationally related" to a legitimate state interest and survived scrutiny under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Explain the background of Gonzales v. Carhart

In 2003, Congress passed and the President signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Dr. Leroy Carhart and other physicians who perform late-term abortions sued to stop the Act from going into effect. With this application the Act would ban most late-term abortions and thus be an unconstitutional "undue burden" on the right to an abortion, as defined by the Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Explain the background to Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt

In 2013, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 2, which contained several provisions related to abortions. One such provision required that any physician performing an abortion have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where the abortion was performed, and another provision required that all abortion clinics comply with standards for ambulatory surgical centers.

What was the Court's holding in Lawrence v. Texas?

In a 6-3 opinion delivered by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the Court held that the Texas statute making it a crime for two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct violates the Due Process Clause.

What was the result of the Court's holding in Roe v. Wade?

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.