Harry A. Blackmun Quotes

United States, Judge
November 12, 1908 – March, 4, 1999.

(November 12, 1908 – March 4, 1999) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 until 1994. Appointed by Republican President Richard Nixon, Blackmun ultimately became one of the most liberal justices on the Court. He is best known as the author of the Court's opinion in Roe v. Wade, which prohibits many state and federal restrictions on abortion.

Also known as Lawyer

The states are not free, under the guise of protecting maternal health or potential life, to intimidate women into continuing pregnancies.

Harry A. Blackmun
- Life
- Women
- Free
It is precisely because the issue raised by this case touches the heart of what makes individuals what they are that we should be especially sensitive to the rights of those whose choices upset the majority.

Harry A. Blackmun
- Heart
- Choices
- Rights

The right of an individual to conduct intimate relationships in the intimacy of his or her own home seems to me to be the heart of the Constitution's protection of privacy.

Harry A. Blackmun
- Heart
- Home
- Constitution
Disapproval of homosexuality cannot justify invading the houses, hearts and minds of citizens who choose to live their lives differently.

Harry A. Blackmun
The flaw in the statute is that in all its applications, it operates on a fundamentally mistaken premise that high solicitation costs are an accurate measure of fraud.

Harry A. Blackmun
- High
- Measure
- Fraud
By placing discretion in the hands of an official to grant or deny a license, such a statute creates a threat of censorship that by its very existence chills free speech.

Harry A. Blackmun
- Free
- Hands
- Censorship
In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way. And in order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently.

Harry A. Blackmun
- Equality
- Racism
- Treat
I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.

Harry A. Blackmun
- Death
- Machinery
- Shall

What the Court really has refused to recognize is the fundamental interest all individuals have in controlling the nature of their intimate associations.

Harry A. Blackmun
- Nature
- Interest
- Court
Who is to say that 5 men 10 years ago were right whereas 5 men looking the other direction today are wrong.

Harry A. Blackmun
- Men
- Today
- Direction