Examines U.S. Supreme Court and other twentieth-century legal decisions regarding the individual's right to bodily autonomy, and includes related documents, an alphabetical list of key people, laws, and concepts, and a chronology.

Constitutionalizing the body -- The human body as a form of property -- The regulatory state -- The right to privacy -- A confusing legacy--Historical background -- Medicalizing the body -- The germ theory -- Eugenics -- The crusade for birth control -- A revival of rights -- Cases -- Compulsory vaccination: private rights versus police powers -- Mandatory sterilization: eugenics on trial --Contraception, abortion, and the right to die: privacy on trial -- Legacy and impact -- End-of-life issues on trial -- Biotechnology on trial -- Documents -- Fourteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution -- "Anti-vaccination circular, distributed during the epidemic of small pox in Boston, 1901"-- Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905) -- Zucht V. King (1922) -- Buck v. Bell (1927) -- Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942) -- Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) -- Roe et al. v. Wade (1973) -- Webster, et al. v. Reproductive health services, et al. (1989) -- Planned parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania, et al. v. Casey (1992) -- Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Public Health (1990) -- Washington, et al., petitioners v. Harold Glucksberg, et al. (1997) -- Oregon's Death with Dignity Act -- Key people, laws, and concepts.