The Supreme Court in the intimate lives of Americans : birth, sex, marriage, childrearing, and death / Howard Ball.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-258) and index.

"Fundamental" rights versus state interests: the balancing process. "I am not talking very much like a lawyer" -- The U.S. Supreme court and "fundamental" rights -- The liberty and rights protected by the Due Process Clause -- Is there a protected liberty interest for persons having intimate homosexual relations? -- The limits of sexual privacy. Marriage and marital privacy. "I should like to suggest a substantial change for your consideration" -- Heterosexual marriage -- Molecular changes in the definition and reality of the traditional marital relationship -- The dilemma of intimate violence and congressional passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), 1994 -- Same-sex marriage -- Congressional passage of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), 1996. The "rhapsody of the unitary family". "Something smells about this case" -- Who is family? -- Family privacy versus state interests -- Family privacy rights versus personal autonomy and other constitutional rights. Motherhood or not, that is her decision. "I will be God-damned!" -- Not having children: abortion as a personal right -- After Roe, what are the limits of "state actions" that regulate the abortion procedure? -- After Roe, what are a husband's rights? -- When a minor daughter wants to terminate her pregnancy -- Back into the vortex: the "partial birth" abortion controversy. Raising the child: "father knows best"?. "This is really a ridiculous case to be absorbing our time" -- Raising and educating children -- The mental and physical health and welfare of the child -- Children's rights: visiting the grandparents. "Let me go!": death in the family. "This case should never have been started" -- Terminating life support for an incompetent family member: passive euthanasia -- Physician-assisted suicide: active euthanasia. Family and personal privacy in the twenty-first century. "She kept screaming" -- Is the home still a castle? -- The "medical necessity" exception and federal anti-marijuana-use law.