You have the right to have privacy

The bright sun woke me up this morning. I got dressed, ate breakfast, and read over my notes before class started. The cases last night were really interesting, as they were about a woman's right to privacy.

• Griswold v. Connecticut - Estelle Griswold was the executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, and Dr. Buxton was part of a movement to repeal Connecticut's 1879 law that prohibited spreading information about contraceptives and giving women contraceptives. Dr. Buxton and Ms. Griwswold spent over twenty years trying to repeal this law, but their attempts failed because they didn't have a reason to sue. They decided they'd have to get arrested to aid their cause. They opened a birth control clinic, were arrested ten days later, and were convicted. They made an appeal to the Supreme Court, who granted review. They won, and this case led to the landmark ruling of a woman's right to privacy. 
• Roe v. Wade - Norma McCovery, a poor and divorced high school dropout who had two children, sought an abortion after becoming pregnant a 3rd time. She lived in Texas and the Texan rule was that abortions were prohibited unless the woman was either raped or her health was at an extreme risk. Norma pretended to have been raped, but since she couldn't provide enough evidence to the police, she eventually admitted she falsified the situation. She then tried to seek an illegal abortion, but all the clinics had been closed. Norma had the baby and gave it up for adoption. Her adoption attorney arranged for her to meet with 3 new lawyers who wanted to challenge the Texan law. Norma became "Jane Roe" and the Texan law was struck down.
• Planned Parenthood (Pennsylvania) v. Casey - Pennsylvania created a law that made getting an abortion much harder, and Planned Parenthood immediately challenged this and won.

Class was fun but somewhat sad because it was Charlie's last day! She is going to debate camp and is leaving tomorrow morning. She was one of the hardest working students and her debate skills are superb. I will definitely miss her.

Charlie and I 

The afternoon session was short but sweet. Jeffrey gave a short lecture on the right to privacy, and before we got our debate topics, Caroline and Lizzy had the "Paper Plate Awards." Everyone in the class won something, and it was a really fun activity. I won the award "Most likely to have a boyfriend and un-boyfriend forever"...long story and an inside joke but it was very cute. After the award ceremony, Jeffrey passed out our debates and gave us our teams. My team is Frank, Suzanne, Liam, and myself. I get to write and ask questions in this case, which I originally wanted. No matter what the outcome of this debate is, I'm going to be proud of my team. We worked in the library after class for about an hour, going over information and helping Frank and Liam to write their opening and closing statements. 

My award 

Our case - we're representing the University of New York 

Debate team working hard in the library! 

We had a meeting with Ms. L and received our flight information for Saturday - it's coming so close! I then had dinner, went back to my dorm and took a long nap, and then hung out with Tomi, Lizzy, and Caroline. We ordered pizza, gossiped, and sang to Taylor Swift (actually, Lizzy and Caroline sang and danced to Taylor Swift. Tomi and I sat on the bed recoiling in horror). Before I went to bed, my friend Khaidjah surprised me with beautiful rings from Cairo. I am so happy she gave them to me - I love her!

Pizza dinner 

Beautiful ring from Cairo