Week 5: Abortion Law (up to Roe v. Wade) Flashcards
(22 cards)
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) context
In Connecticut in the early 1960s it was illegal (1) to use any drug or device for the purpose of preventing conception and (2) provide counseling or other treatment for the purpose of preventing conception
Griswold opened birth control clinic in 1961 and was arrested for advising married couples about birth control
What was the main question in the Connecticut v. Griswold case?
Did Connecticut anti-contraception law violate a constitutional right? If so, what right had been violated?
What was the outcome of the Griswold v. Connecticut case?
Court decided there was a right to marital privacy in the Constitution
Where was the right to marital privacy found in the Constituion
Found in the penumbra of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 9th Amendement
Was found in part of liberty in the due process clause of the 14th Amendment
“penumbra” refers to the implied rights derived from explicitly stated guarantees in the constitution
Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972) context
Under Massachusetts law at the time, it was a felony to distribute contraceptives to unmarried men or women
Feared that protecting sex for unmarried couples would promote values that contradicted their views (e.g. adultery, prostitution
BU Professor gave women spermicide after birth control lecture
What did the Eisenstdat v. Baird case demonstrate?
the right to privacy extended beyond the “martial bedroom”
What is the main focus of the Libertyville Abortion Demonstration video?
-people often do not think if the punishment for women who have abortions if they become illegal
- Originally, the conservative side attached a penalty to the person administering the abortion however this is changing.
What was Texas law surrounding abortion prior to Roe v. Wade?
Texas statute made it a crime to obtain an abortion except in cases of saving the life of the mother
Procedural Due Process vs Substantive Due Process
Procedural due process refers to fair police procedures
Substantive due process restricts the government’s ability to infringe on fundamental rights by limiting its power to enact laws that violate those rights
What did the Supreme Court rule in Roe v. Wade?
Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause requires that no state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law
This made abortion a fundamental right
What was unique about the Supreme Court’s involvement in Roe v. Wade?
They took a more involved role by creating diffeent rules attached to each trimester and giving states varying levels of control at each trimester
What are some criticisms about the Supreme Court trimester system in Roe v. Wade?
-critics argue that it was an overstep of power by the judicial branch
-critics also argue that it is based on subjective interpretations rather than what’s in the Constitution
What does it mean to be a fundamental right?
Prior to the Dobbs case
To be a fundamental right, the right has to be enumerated in the Constitution OR it has to be “implicit” in the concept of the ordered liberty and/or deeply rooted in the nation’s history or traditions
What component of fundemental right did Roe v. Wade rely on
Abortion is not enumerated in the Constitution, so it relied on the idea that it was implicit in the concept of the ordered liberty
Under Roe v. Wade, what were the restrictions of the first trimester?
legal limits and government interests
Government interests: protecting mother’s health and protecting potential life
Legal limits: Legal limits: state can only require basic procedural safeguards such as requiring the procedure be performed by a qualified health professional and cannot limit access to abortion
Under Roe v. Wade, what were the restrictions of the second trimester?
can regulate abortion but had to be directed toward ensuring the health of the mother and not aimed at simply limiting access to abortions
Under Roe v. Wade, what were the restrictions of the third trimester?
state can restrict most abortions so long as it’s still allowed when the mother’s life or health is at risk
Viability meaning
when the fetus can survive on its own outside of the woman
Why are the restrictions established by Roe v. Wade in the third trimester vague?
What constitutes a health risk? is it only a physical risk? Or does it include psychological health risks?
Why would the interest of protecting the mother’s health in the second trimester change?
Procedures are simpler in the first trimester. Risker to carry a child to term. If you’re interested in the mothers health, you’re imposing more risks by allowing her to carry a child to term than to allow her to have an abortion.
Before first leaving office, President Trump called upon Congress to pass legislation banning the late term abortion of babies. Would this have been permissible under Roe v Wade?
Yes and no as long as there was an exception for the life or health of the mother
According to Moyle v. US (2024), what constituted a serious health risk?
Suggested that damage to a woman’s uterus, preventing her from having children in the future, would constitute a health risk justifying abortion.
