THE EVOLUTION OF PRIVACY RIGHTS: EXAMINING THE POST-DOBBS CONTEXT

Abstract

There is no explicit right to privacy established by the Constitution. The Supreme Court has expanded on the right in several landmark cases, but it remains unwritten in the supreme law of the United States. Nevertheless, the liberties that the right to privacy grants us are fundamental to any free society--ranging from the ability to marry the same sex to the freedom to learn about contraception at the doctor's office. However, it remains widely debated by previous and current judges whether the right to privacy exists and if it can determine the scope of rights relating to privacy issues. One of the most notable examples of the right-to-privacy debate concerns the right to obtain an abortion. In 2022, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned this right, denouncing how the previous judges had used the right to privacy to extend this freedom in Roe v. Wade in 1973. People have experienced the consequences of losing such a right. Many fear what privacy rights they could lose next. Will other liberties dependent on the right to privacy be affected by the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade? Are our privacy rights at stake?