Right to Privacy

Joe Knippenberg at No Left Turns directs us to this fine piece by Robert George on the so-called right to privacy.  There is no doubt that the Constitution protects kinds of privacy rights, but it is another thing altogether to say that there is a generalizable privacy right.

Another thought today about the "right to privacy," "autonomy " of women, and their "ability to control their reproductive lives."  If women have autonomy, a right to privacy, and have the right to control their reproductive lives, can the state make it illegal to serve alcohol to a pregnant woman?  Can a woman who is refused service demand her constitutional right?  If she wanted to abort her unborn child, the Supreme Court would protect that choice.  So why not let her affect the prenatal development of that child by drinking alcohol?  After all, it's her body and her rights.  Or so some would say.