The Ninth Amendment has all the ambiguity of an “et cetera.” Any rights, not enumerated, shall be retained by the people. But what exactly are those rights? In the second half of the 20th Century, the Ninth Amendment was recognized by the Supreme Court as guaranteeing a personal right, the right to be left alone. The right to privacy eventually provided the doctrinal basis to one of the Court’s most contentious decisions.

Roe v. Wade provided a formula for balancing the rights to privacy against the obligations of the state to protect its potential citizens. If it is overturned, this balancing act will go back to the states. How might the Ninth Amendment guide us in our discussions? Does the ambiguity of the Ninth Amendment allow for different moral frameworks to co-exist?