General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Honest question: Why does the 4th Amendment not give us a right to privacy of our own bodies? [View all]ChoppinBroccoli
(3,764 posts)As a criminal defense attorney, I can tell you that the Court's decisions over the years have SIGNIFICANTLY worn away at the 4th Amendment. There are so many exceptions now that it's almost impossible to make a winning "illegal search" argument anymore. And the things that aren't covered by an exception can all make it into evidence with a simple warrant. Yes, they have to go to a judge and show probable cause, but anymore, they just go to the judge, the judge says, "What's your probable cause?", they answer, "We think there's evidence of a crime in there," and the judge signs the warrant. Basically meaningless.
Now, on the other hand, if you were to argue that being forced to carry a pregnancy to term constituted "involuntary servitude," you might be able to make some headway there. However, the Supreme Court has eroded the 13th Amendment as well. When I was in law school, I wrote a paper on the 13th Amendment as it applies to the military draft. It turns out that the Supreme Court ruled that the draft doesn't violate the 13th Amendment's ban on involuntary servitude because...........well..........we NEED the draft. No kidding, THAT was their "legal" reasoning.
I would also think that there's an Equal Protection argument in there too, because not all religions believe that life begins at conception. So if you're a member of one of those other religions, you are being denied Equal Protection of the laws. But that argument SHOULD HAVE been made during the Dobbs hearings, and the Court SHOULD HAVE considered it in their opinion, even if it wasn't raised. The fact of the matter is that this Court had their minds made up before they even heard this case, so it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Which is why I also believe that ANY challenge to Dobbs on Constitutional grounds will fail. They just plain won't listen to it.