The Supreme Court's decisions on birth control in 1965 and abortion in 1973 are examples of how the Court
A)has refused to acknowledge the Fourteenth Amendment in its rulings on questions of personal morality.
B)can nullify any amendment to the Constitution with its rulings.
C)can modify or augment the text of the Constitution with its rulings.
D)has been reluctant throughout American history to strike down laws passed by state governments as violations of the Constitution.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Supreme Court's decisions on birth control and abortion in 1965 and 1973 respectively represent examples of how the Court can modify or augment the text of the Constitution with its rulings. In the case of Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), the Court's ruling extended the right to privacy to includes a right to use birth control, despite the fact that neither the word "privacy" nor "contraception" appears in the Constitution. In Roe v. Wade (1973), the Court's ruling interpreted the Constitution to include a woman's right to have an abortion, based on a combination of privacy and due process protections. This demonstrates how the Court can interpret the Constitution in new ways to protect individual rights, even in the absence of explicit language supporting those rights.

The Supreme Court's Decisions on Birth Control in 1965 and Abortion