Despite courts having recognized an implicit right in the Constitution to privacy and personal autonomy, no explicit right exists.  The implicit right has evolved over time with court decisions recognizing a privacy interest in the right to marry and procreate and to choose certain relationships.  The constitutional restriction on unreasonable searches and seizures is also premised on the right of privacy.  

More recently, however, there has been an erosion of this implicit right with the Supreme Court claiming no privacy right related to terminating a pregnancy and threats to revisit other cases recognizing an implicit right of privacy.  There has also been an increasing intrusion of privacy through government mass surveillance and collection of sensitive personal information.  Laws prohibiting certain medical decisions or mandates requiring vaccines are on the rise, and there are increasing threats to privacy and personal autonomy based on gender, ethnicity and religious affiliation. 

The following proposed constitutional amendment will establish an explicit right to privacy and personal autonomy and require the highest level of judicial scrutiny for any infringement of these rights.

Section 1.  No government shall infringe or violate the fundamental rights of persons in the United States to personal autonomy and privacy without consent.  An infringement or violation of these rights is subject to the highest level of judicial scrutiny.

Section 2. A person shall have a cause of action for monetary damages and declaratory and injunctive relief for an unlawful violation of the rights established herein, and any federal court shall have jurisdiction over a claim under Section 1.  No government shall assert sovereign immunity as a defense, and no governmental officer or official is entitled to immunity for a claim alleging an unlawful violation of the rights herein. 

Section 3.  “Person” shall mean a human being rather than unborn progeny, or a corporation, association, partnership or any other form of organization that may be considered an artificial person under the law. “Personal autonomy” shall mean the right and agency to act on personal choices related to values, beliefs, desires, relationships, and the right to life and bodily integrity.  “Privacy” shall mean the right to be free from intrusion, interference or observation into personal activities or the collection, disclosure or use of personal information customarily treated as private.