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Rights: In 2022 the Supreme Court's Dobbs vs Jackson Womens Health Organization upheld a Mississippi law in which the state is attempting to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, thus overturning Roe vs Wade the right to abortion.


The decision was based on the Originalism Argument. See below. The right brought up the discussion of it's affect on other decisions which were based on the "right to Privacy".
However Justice Kavanaugh said that was not the case, but Justice Thomas said it could affect those other cases.

The right to abortion was Based on the XIC (14th) amendment's due process and equal protection under the law.
"No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

- The right to privacy with respect to intimate practices which are protected from governmental intrusion.

They were based on the 14th amendment "equal Protection" clause and privacy.

In 2022 Row was overturned using the Originalism Argument, see below.

Right to Privacy:
The Supreme Court used the right to privacy in Griswold and (Contraception) 1965 and Roe (Abortion) 1973 .
They Used the personal protections expressly stated in the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Amendments to find that there is an implied right to privacy in the Constitution, that applied to Griswold. married couples, had the right to purchase contraceptives.
In Roe they said "This right of privacy . . . founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action . . . is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy."

The Privacy Act of 1974 prohibits the disclosure of a record about an individual from a system of records absent the written consent of the individual, Overview of The Privacy Act of 1974 (2020 Edition)
Enacted in the wake of the Watergate and the Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) scandals involving illegal surveillance on opposition political parties and individuals.

Allows individuals to determine what records pertaining to them are collected, maintained, used, or disseminated by an agency; require agencies to procure consent before records pertaining to an individual collected for one purpose could be used for other incompatible purposes.
Thee Department of Health, Education & Welfare (HEW) report establishes Fair Information Practice Principles, or FIPPs.

Protection of Rights:
Since World War II the 14th amendment has been used to protect the rights of vulnerable minorities.
It has been used for both liberal and conservative rights. e.g. Citizens United which gave corporations the right of free speech to spend money on political campaigns.

In 2022 the Supreme Court with a 6 to 3 conservative supermajority overturned the right to an abortion established in Roe (1973) and upheld in Casey (1992).
They did uphold one right. In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen they struck down a New York law banning the carrying guns in public.

Originalism Argument In the context of United States law, originalism is a concept regarding the interpretation of the Constitution that asserts that all statements in the constitution must be interpreted based on the original understanding "at the time it was adopted". i.e. 1868 for the 14th amendment.
BTW in 1868 women did not have the right to vote.

The Originalism argument is reversing this trend to grant rights and is being used to take away rights.
Many people think all the cases above where the privacy argument was critical are subject to being overturned using Originalism, although Justice Kavanaugh said otherwise..
Justice Thomas said that was the intent.

See PBSs - "Here & Now talks with Harvard University law professor Noah Feldman." | PBS on July 4, 2022 for a good explanation.

Links:
Famous Trials
Abortion
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