1890 – 1941 – State Courts in
12 States recognized a right to
privacy
By 1956 – The number
increased to 18
Be 1960 – More than 36 States
recognized the right to privacy
Boyd v. US, 1886
First acknowledgement by the Supreme
Court of the Right to Privacy
Protection of privacy was protected by
the 4th and 5th Amendments – holding
that they apply
 “to all invasions on the part of a man’s home
and the privacies of life. It is not the
breaking of his doors, and the rummaging of
his drawers, that constitute the essence of
the offense, but it is the invasion of his
indefeasible right of personal security,
personal liberty, and private property.”
Katz v. US, 1967 &
Terry v. Ohio, 1968
Supreme Court included “reasonable
expectations of privacy” into the 4th
Amendment
“Wherever an individual may harbor
a ‘reasonable expectation of privacy’
he is entitled to be free from
unreasonable government intrusion.”
NAACP v. Alabama, 1958
Supreme Court acknowledged
aspects of Privacy in both the
5th and the 1st Amendments
Griswold v. Connecticut,
1965
Suggested that the right to privacy
can be found in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th,
and 9th Amendments and applied to
the states under the 14th
9th Amendment states “the
enumeration in the Constitution of
certain rights shall not be construed
to deny or disparage others retained
by the people”
Roe v. Wade, 1973
Renquist Court – limited the
application of the right to privacy to
areas primarily involving
reproductive freedom, it has refused
to protect other areas of personal
autonomy
Skinner v. Oklahoma, 1942
Oklahoma law stated that a person
convicted two or more times for “felonies
involving moral turpitude” would be
sterilized
Supreme Court overturned the law:
“We are dealing here with legislation which involves one
of the basic civil rights of man. Marriage and procreation
are fundamental to the very existence and survival of the
race. The power to sterilize if exercised may have subtle,
far-reaching and devastating effects. In evil or reckless
hands it can cause races or types which are inimical to
the dominant group to wither and disappear. There is no
redemption for the individual whom the law touches. An
experiment which the state conducts is to his irreparable
injury. His is forever deprived of a basic liberty.”
Eisenstadt v. Baird, 1972
• Supreme Court overturned a
Massachusetts law forbidding the
use of contraceptives by unmarried
individuals
• Griswold v. Connecticut had already
upheld the privacy of a Married
couple to use contraceptives
United States v. Viutch, 1971
Supreme Court upheld a District of
Columbia law allowing abortions not
only to save a woman’s life, but also
to maintain her physical well being
The Court did not rule on whether or
not a woman’s right to privacy
included her decision to terminate
an unwanted pregnancy
History of Abortion Rights
in the United States
• Until mid 1800s
Most states permitted abortions – except after
quickening – but even then it was just a minor
offense
• After the Civil War – by 1910
Every state – except Kentucky – had made abortion a
felony (persistent campaigning of antiabortionists)
• By late 1960s
14 states had liberalized laws to permit abortion
when the woman’s health was in danger, where there
was a likelihood of fetal abnormality, and when the
woman was a victim of rape or incest
Alaska, Hawaii, New York and Washington – actually
repealed all criminal penalties for abortions
performed early in the pregnancy