Rigby5
Diamond Member
There is a major kerfuffle today about the "right" of pregnant women to end their pregnancy. The state of Texas has placed a rather severe limitation on abortions. Indeed, they have prohibited abortions after the heartbeat of the fetus can be detected. This standard goes beyond the standard of Roe v. Wade (if you examine the core of the decision), which is to say, it is more restrictive than RvW proclaimed that a State could be. Under RvW, the States could only regulate (prohibit) abortions after the fetus had arguably achieved "viability," which the decision states is the third trimester of pregnancy. Texas' prohibition is far earlier than viability.
So wimmin's rights activists are now loudly claiming that the Texas law and standard violates women's CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.
Balderdash.
A "Constitutional right" is a right that is guaranteed by THE CONSTITUTION. The right to keep and bear arms are Constitutional Rights. The right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures is a Constitutional right. Free speech is a Constitutional right.
The "right" to obtain (or perform) an abortion is a judge-made right that is claimed to be founded on the elusive "right of privacy" that is also found nowhere in the Constitution.
So I don't deny that that "right" exists under the current version of "Constitutional law," but it is not a "Constitutional" right. It does not originate, nor is it based on anything, in the Constitution.
SImilarly, there is no "Constitutional right" to marry someone of the same gender. There is no Constitutional right to engage in sodomy, homosexual or otherwise. These rights do exist, but they have no connection to the Constitution. They are entirely made-up "constitutional" law - the creation of activist USSC justices.
I'm not sure what term should be used, but I find it highly objectionable to call these rights "Constitutional rights." They have nothing to do with the Constitution.
I see your point, but disagree.
Originally the Bill of Rights did not at all try to list all rights.
It was more about restricting the federal government.
But the 14th amendment changed all that.
The 14th amendment put the federal government in charge of defending all rights, including those not previously in the Constitution.
Clearly privacy is a right, and to not be forced to deliver a baby is also a right.
And the 14th amendment makes them Constitution rights, meaning they are federal instead of by the states.