University of Virginia Library

Right To Privacy

Though not as contested as
the questions concerning
family law, the issue that has
perhaps caused the greatest
furor is the possible collapse of
the woman's right to privacy.

The "Schlaflyites" as they
are sometimes called by critics,
claim that "ERA will wipe out
a woman's right to privacy." In
the May 1972 Phyllis Schlafly
Report the testimony of
Professor Paul Freund of the
Harvard Law School is quoted
in opposition to ERA.
According to his report ERA
"would require that there be
no segregation of the sexes in
prison, reform schools, public
restrooms and other public
facilities."

The Charlottesville-Albemarle
League of Women Voters
contend that two legal
principles prevent this stripping
of privacy. They claim that the
power of the state to regulate
cohabitation among unmarried
persons and the constitutional
right to privacy as spelled out
by the Supreme Court in 1965
provide ample protection of
women's privacy.

Some opponents of ERA in
Virginia have expressed
satisfaction with Virginia's
version of women's equal rights
as found in the new state
constitution. They claim that
the state constitution which
contains the clause, "Except
that the mere separation of the
sexes shall not be considered