Which case is most closely linked to recognizing a privacy-based right that informs abortion rights?

• A. Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)
• B. Roe v. Wade (1973)
• C. Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health (2022)
• D. Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is how a privacy-based right in the Constitution underpins abortion rights. Roe v. Wade is the landmark case that first recognized a constitutional right to privacy large enough to cover a woman's decision to terminate a pregnancy, drawing on the Due Process Clause and the idea of personal autonomy in intimate matters. It established that while the right is not unlimited, the state cannot ban abortion outright and may regulate it as pregnancy progresses, subject to a balancing framework. This foundational recognition is what ties the privacy liberty directly to abortion rights.

Planned Parenthood v. Casey later reaffirmed Roe but revised how the right could be regulated, introducing the undue burden standard, which keeps the privacy basis but shifts the test. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health later removed the federal constitutional protection for abortion, returning the authority to regulate abortion to the states, so it does not exemplify recognizing a privacy-based right that informs abortion rights. Lawrence v. Texas, while about privacy in intimate relations, deals with sexual privacy rather than abortion rights, so it isn’t the case most closely linked to the privacy-based right underlying abortion rights. Therefore, Roe v. Wade is the best answer because it established and articulated the privacy-based right that directly informs abortion rights.