Roe v Wade extends Griswold

The case Roe v Wade is widely known through out the United States. It was this case that gave women the right to legal and safe abortion. In this case, the Supreme Court uses the Fourteenth Amendment to affirm these private rights.

The facts of the case were as follows: a single unmarried women, Jane Roe, sued the state of Texas. She was unable to obtain a legal abortion in state because her life was not threatened by the pregnancy and she didn't have any money to travel to a state where abortion was legal. She was joined in the case by a physician and a married couple, but the case's main concern was Roe, who sued “on behalf of herself and all other women”.

Writing for the Majority, in his opinion Justice Blackmun makes it clear that privacy is a central question in this case. From the beginning of the opinion, he states that privacy extends to a woman's decision to terminate her pregnancy. The opinion says that her decision in a complicated matter, involving mental and physical heath, family, other children, and social stigma. This is a decision that is best determined by a women and her physician.

Next, Justice Blackmun examines the argument that a woman's privacy in this matter is absolute--that she should be able to terminate her pregnancy whenever, however, and for whatever reason she chooses. And further, the state has no right to interfere. He does not agree with this absolute position. The rest of his argument lays out the limitations of this policy. This limitations are put into place because a pregnant woman carries potential life. This potential life eventually passes from nothing more than a group of cells to become a human with his/her own private rights. It's this tension between the rights of the mother and the growing potential life that has stirred up all the controversy about abortion. In this controversy, the Court finds the middle ground: a women has the right of privacy, but this right is subject to some limitations. The State has some ability to impose medical restrictions and other standards protecting prenatal life. As a practical matter, this decision legalized abortion in the early stages of pregnancy and allowed states to impose limits on late term abortion. This is a balance of privacy between the mother and the right of the public to protect new life.

The Griswold case is cited in Roe v Wade as a basis for the decision. Specifically, Justice Blackmun notes the fundamental right to privacy involving activities related to marriage, procreation, and contraception. Griswold set up private rights extending to the sanctity of marriage. Roe v Wade takes this argument on step further. Not only is privacy protected within a family unit, but it is extended to pregnant women and protects their choices in early stages of pregnancy. In this way, Roe v Wade builds upon the penumbra of rights set out in Griswold.