Roberts v. the Future: Genetic Screening and the Future of Personal Autonomy

III. Genetic Screening and the Future of Personal Autonomy

Every Supreme Court confirmation hearing since the election of Ronald Reagan has been marked by efforts -- nearly always unsuccessful -- to predict the nominee's views on Roe v. Wade. The Roberts hearings are unlikely to prove an exception. If Roberts is confirmed, he will have two opportunities in the next Supreme Court term to reveal some of his views about the potential implications of Roe -- in one case involving a teen-health exception in parental-notification laws and in another concerning the federal power to prosecute protesters at abortion clinics. Regardless of whether Roe v. Wade remains on the books in 10 or 20 years, however, America's political and legal disputes about reproduction may well have moved far beyond efforts to balance the interests of a fetus against the interests of a pregnant mother. Instead, the country will most likely be debating the use of sophisticated technologies involving genetic manipulation and reproductive cloning outside the womb -- controversial procedures that may prompt restrictions or bans by state legislatures or Congress. In...