Roe v. Wade argued that Texas abortion laws violated which constitutional protection?

• A. The First Amendment right to free speech.
• B. The Second Amendment right to bear arms.
• C. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment's privacy protection.
• D. The Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

Answer: (C)

The test is about recognizing that privacy protection is derived from the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In Roe v. Wade, the Court held that a Texas abortion ban infringed a woman’s right to privacy, a liberty interest protected by due process. This privacy right is not spelled out word-for-word in the Constitution but is found through substantive due process and earlier cases recognizing a zone of personal decision-making in intimate matters. That means the state cannot impose an outright ban on abortion early in pregnancy, although state interests grow stronger later in gestation. The other options don’t fit because they concern free speech, gun rights, or punishment, none of which address reproductive autonomy or the privacy-based liberty at issue.