Abortion is protected under which constitutional doctrine?

• A. Rational basis
• B. Strict scrutiny
• C. Intermediate scrutiny
• D. Substantive due process privacy

Answer: (D)

Abortion is protected as a fundamental liberty under substantive due process because it falls within the right to privacy recognized by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The idea is that individuals have a core privacy interest in making intimate, personal decisions about reproduction, and the government may not interfere with that choice without a compelling justification. When a right is fundamental, the government must meet strict scrutiny—show a compelling interest and use the least restrictive means to pursue it. This framework—substantive due process to protect a privacy-based liberty—explains why abortion is treated as a protected right. The other standards (rational basis or intermediate scrutiny) do not apply to this fundamental, privacy-based liberty, and privacy alone is not the doctrine; it’s the substantive due process protection of that privacy interest.