From Frontiero to the Air Force: Citizenship and Equal Protection in U.S. Reproduction Jurisprudence

male counterparts to this full range of constitutional citizenship benefits. And it ensures that the
same participatory rights, guaranteed to men in America’s economic, political, and social spheres
regardless of their parenthood status ​are denied to all women.
The Equal Protection Clause—designed to confer a full and equal range of citizenship
rights upon all members of the American political community—leaves little room for the
government to erect barriers to women’s reproductive autonomy short of engaging in per se sex
discrimination. Restrictions limiting the range of women’s autonomy, like those targeting the
civil liberties of other suspect classes, should always be subject to strict judicial scrutiny under
the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The constitutional standard for equal
citizenship should require that citizens of both sexes enjoy equal autonomy in determining their
range of life choices.
In the prescient words of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: “I ask no favor for my
sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.”​ 48
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Louise W. Knight, “The 19​ th​ -century powerhouse who inspired RBG,” ​CNN​, September 1, 2018,
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/01/opinions/ruth-bader-ginsburg-rbg-and-grimke-sisters-louise-knight/index.html​.
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