I'm of the opinion that the "privacy" angle behind Roe isn't the real crux of the matter. It's the question of personhood of the fetus, which is ultimately a metaphysical matter, and not for the Court to decide. I'd argue that there *is* some measure of "privacy" in the Constitution, via the Fourth Amendment, but that it's not applicable to abortion.
My following of the Roe decision was that it is predicated on a presumptive right to privacy which that court deemed evident within the 14th Amendment. "The right of privacy, whether it be founded in the 14th Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restriction upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment’s reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” -- Justice Blackmun in attempting to synopsize the Roe decision.
I struggle with privacy myself as a (small "L") libertarian because surely our defined rights aren't merely limited to "only" what the Bill of Rights codifies. Would the constitution throw all other such rights to the whims of the States? And I agree with you that "agency" in general, and not just "privacy" is a theme that permeates the Bill of Rights...though it is not defined explicitly.
Regardless, in deciding Roe as they did, the Justices took it upon themselves (and nobody else) to define the metaphysical in the trimester framework they posited. Either one was an overreach by the court, corrected in Dobbs.
I'm of the opinion that the "privacy" angle behind Roe isn't the real crux of the matter. It's the question of personhood of the fetus, which is ultimately a metaphysical matter, and not for the Court to decide. I'd argue that there *is* some measure of "privacy" in the Constitution, via the Fourth Amendment, but that it's not applicable to abortion.
My following of the Roe decision was that it is predicated on a presumptive right to privacy which that court deemed evident within the 14th Amendment. "The right of privacy, whether it be founded in the 14th Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restriction upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment’s reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” -- Justice Blackmun in attempting to synopsize the Roe decision.
I struggle with privacy myself as a (small "L") libertarian because surely our defined rights aren't merely limited to "only" what the Bill of Rights codifies. Would the constitution throw all other such rights to the whims of the States? And I agree with you that "agency" in general, and not just "privacy" is a theme that permeates the Bill of Rights...though it is not defined explicitly.
Regardless, in deciding Roe as they did, the Justices took it upon themselves (and nobody else) to define the metaphysical in the trimester framework they posited. Either one was an overreach by the court, corrected in Dobbs.
Jeff, are you a Redleg?😲 I spent two years at Fort Sill in 1/12th FA (LANCE) from ‘72-‘74.
Negative. I was an Ordnance guy - which explains why I can't hear anything typed in lower case!
You mean EOD, where you defuse UXBs and IEDs?😳
No I wasn't one of those guys.