Opinion of the Court
motive.[1]
C
1
Instead of seriously pressing the argument that the abortion right itself has deep roots, supporters of Roe and Casey contend that the abortion right is an integral part of a broader entrenched right. Roe termed this a right to privacy, 410 U. S., at 154, and Casey described it as the freedom to make "intimate and personal choices" that are "central to personal dignity and autonomy," 505 U.S., at 851. Casey elaborated: "At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." Id., at 851.
The Court did not claim that this broadly framed right is absolute, and no such claim would be plausible. While individuals are certainly free to think and to say what they wish about "existence," "meaning," the "universe," and "the mystery of human life," they are not always free to act in accordance with those thoughts. License to act on the basis of such beliefs may correspond to one of the many understandings of "liberty," but it is certainly not "ordered liberty."
- ↑ Other amicus briefs present arguments about the motives of proponents of liberal access to abortion. They note that some such supporters have been motivated by a desire to suppress the size of the African American population. See Brief for Amici Curiae African-American, Hispanic, Roman Catholic and Protestant Religious and Civil Rights Organization and Leaders Supporting Petitioners 14–21; see also Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, 139 S. Ct. 1780, 1783–84 (2019) (Thomas, J., dissenting from the denial of certiorari). And it is beyond dispute that Roe has had that demographic effect. A highly disproportionate percentage of aborted fetuses are black. See, e.g., Center for Disease Control, Abortion Surveillance—United States, 2019, 70 Surveillance Summaries, at 20, tbl. 6 (Nov. 26, 2021). For our part, we do not question the motives of either those who have supported and those who have opposed laws restricting abortions.
