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PRIVACY, PROTEST, AND THE REHNQUIST COURT
Author(s) -
Whitney Sharon G.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
southeastern political review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1747-1346
pISSN - 0730-2177
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-1346.1995.tb00424.x
Subject(s) - abortion , jurisprudence , law , political science , economic justice , interpretation (philosophy) , supreme court , right to privacy , pregnancy , genetics , computer science , biology , programming language
This article reviews and analyzes decisions of the Rehnquist Court involving the interpretation of constitutional rights applicable to both abortion access and antiabortion protest. By the mid‐1990s the Court was attempting to balance the rights of antiabortion protesters with the rights and interests of those seeking and performing abortions. In previous Terms the Rehnquist Court had reaffirmed the central holding in Roe v. Wade (1973). Nonetheless, conservatives on and off the Court continued to push for the overruling of Roe. Moreover, antiabortion activists persisted in their efforts to inhibit access to abortion clinics and their operations. The first part of this article develops a model of pragmatic jurisprudence and its application to privacy issues, with emphasis on abortion interests. The second part focuses on the abortion cases brought before the Rehnquist Court, with one section covering cases decided prior to the 1993 Term, and another section covering abortion protest cases decided during that Term. The article concludes with observations about alternative approaches in this complex area of political jurisprudence, giving particular attention to the views of Justice Scalia.