Abstract

This chapter briefly reviews the evolution in decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court of what was originally identified as a privacy right but is now correctly identified as a liberty right against legal paternalism. The chapter uses the main principle to trace the contours of what this right should include: right to religious freedom; a right to sexual freedom; a right to reproductive freedom; a right to refuse medical treatment, including a right to refuse extraordinary care and to be removed from life support; a right to marry that includes same sex marriage; a right to suicide and assisted suicide in certain end-of-life situations. The chapter also explains why there should be human rights to spatial privacy and informational privacy.