The right to privacy : the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and personal autonomy

Abstract

This thesis analyzes a very controversial issue in American law, the right to privacy. Even though the U. S. Constitution does not explicitly mention a right to privacy, the Supreme Court has held that it contains such a right which protects personal autonomy in a range of personal decisions.

The right to privacy was introduced by the Court in the case of Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965. Since then, in a line of Supreme Court rulings, it has been expanded to protect decisions regarding such personal issues as abortion, Roe v. Wade (1973), freedom to engage in adult, consensual sexual conduct with a person of the same sex, Lawrence v. Texas (2003), and the discontinuation of lifesaving medical treatment, Cruzan v. Missouri (1990).

The main focus of this thesis is on the legal aspects of the right to privacy, but it also includes a discussion of its societal background. Such a discussion is necessary because, first, these Supreme Court decisions have been among the most controversial ones in the Court's history. Especially the right to choose an abortion is a very divisive issue in the United States. And second, the expansion of the right to privacy is not a creation of the Supreme Court, but rather a response to societal developments, such as for instance the women s liberation and the gay rights movements.