Carey, Kids and Contraceptives: Privacy's Problem Child

Authors

Richard E. Warner

Abstract

In Carey v. Population Services International the Supreme Court held that a New York state statute restricting access to nonprescription contraceptives violated the right to privacy of both adults and minors. In order to include access to contraceptives within the protection of the privacy right and maintain consistency with the constitutionality of state laws prohibiting adultery, fornication and sodomy, the Court found it necessary to reformulate the rationale of its decisions in Griswold v. Connecticutand subsequent privacy cases. The author of this note first considers the validity of the Court's new interpretation of Griswold as creating a right to privacy which protects activities related to the decision whether or not to bear or beget children. He then assesses the possible results of applying this newlydefined privacy right to those private consensual activities traditionally forbidden by state laws.

Recommended Citation

Richard E. Warner, Carey, Kids and Contraceptives: Privacy's Problem Child, 32 U. Mia. L. Rev. 750 (1978)
Available at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/umlr/vol32/iss3/11