CHAPTER FouR • CiviL LibERTiEs 81
Radio and television broadcasting has the least First Amendment protection. In 1934,
the national government established the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to
regulate electromagnetic wave frequencies. This was done to keep stations from interfer-
ing with each other’s broadcasts—the number of airwave frequencies is limited. No one
has a right to use the airwaves without a license granted by the FCC. The FCC grants
licenses for limited periods, and because broadcasts take place under a federal license,
it imposes a variety of regulations on broadcasters. For example, the FCC can impose
sanctions on radio or TV stations that broadcast “filthy words,” even if the words are not
legally obscene.THE RigHT To PRivACY
No explicit reference is made anywhere in the Constitution to a person’s right to pri-
vacy. Until relatively recently, the courts did not take a very positive approach toward this
right. In 1965, however, in Griswold v. Connecticut,^35 the Supreme Court overthrew a
Connecticut law that effectively prohibited the use of contraceptives, holding that the
law violated the right to privacy. Justice William O. Douglas formulated a unique way
of reading this right into the Bill of Rights. He claimed that the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth,
and Ninth Amendments created “penumbras formed by emanations [shadows, formed by
the light], from those guarantees that help give them life and substance,” and he went
on to describe zones of privacy that are guaranteed by these rights. When we read the
Ninth Amendment, we can see the foundation for his reasoning: “The enumeration in the
Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained
by the people.” In other words, the fact that the Constitution, including its amendments,
does not specifically talk about the right to privacy does not mean that this right is denied
to the people.Privacy Rights and Abortion
Historically, abortion was not a criminal offense before the “quickening” of the fetus (the
first movement of the fetus in the uterus, usually between the sixteenth and eighteenth
weeks of pregnancy). During the last half of the nineteenth century, however, state laws
became more severe. By 1973, performing an abortion at any time during pregnancy was
a criminal offense in a majority of the states.Roe v. Wade. In Roe v. Wade^36 (1973), the United States Supreme Court accepted the
argument that the laws against abortion violated “Jane Roe’s” right to privacy under the
Constitution. The Court held that during the first trimester (three months) of pregnancy,
abortion was an issue solely between a woman and her physician. The state could not limit
abortions except to require that they be performed by licensed physicians. During the second
trimester, to protect the health of the mother, the state was allowed to specify the conditions
under which an abortion could be performed. During the final trimester, the state could
regulate or even outlaw abortions except when they were necessary to preserve the life or
health of the mother.
After the Roe case, the Supreme Court issued decisions in a number of cases defin-
ing and redefining the boundaries of state regulation of abortion. During the 1980s, theLO 4: Provide the constitutional
basis of the right to privacy, and
explain how the principle has been
applied to the abortion and right-
to-die controversies.35. 381 U.S. 479 (1965).
- 410 U.S. 113 (1973). Jane Roe was not the real name of the woman in this case. It is a common
legal pseudonym used to protect a person’s privacy.
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