Posted: April 11th, 2017

What Right to Privacy?

What Right to Privacy?. The fact that the Constitution does not have a specific clause or reference to a right to privacy has become a very contentious cultural, social, and political issue in the United States. The ability of the government to enter into the private lives of American citizens has clearly been restricted by provisions in the Fourth Amendment, yet the debate over certain privacy based rights such as contraception, abortion rights, and consensual sexual activity continues today. In particular, when discussing abortion, many immediately begin to debate a woman’s right to choose. At the heart of the issue constitutionally is not whether a woman has the right to make this discussion but whether she has the right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment. Utilizing the U.S. Constitution and valid case law, explain the role that the right to privacy has in establishing the legality of abortion.