They wish to have a child. They may not do so without violating the Act and thereby risking serious penalty. The Mandatory Miscegenation Act was enacted by Congress after several years of public debate.
Petitioners argue that the Act violates the constitutional right of privacy.
Although we have given broad scope to the right of reproductive privacy, we have also recognized that the right is not unlimited. The case before us today poses a particularly vexing challenge. As President Muhammad noted when he signed the Mandatory Miscegenation Act, our nation has a long and troubled history of racism and racial strife. Slavery led to Civil War which led to Jim Crows which led to segregation which led to economic and educational deprivation and urban isolation. Civil rights l egislation, welfare legislation, voting legislation, affirmative action policies, anti-affirmative action policies, voluntary resegregation policies, redistributive policies and reparations policies have not solved the problem.