Planned Parenthood’s Right to Bear Arms

By David B. Kopel, Adam Winkler David B. Kopel, Adam Winkler

Last week, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., was attacked in Colorado Springs. Although many details about the perpetrator, who killed three people and wounded nine, are still unclear, Colorado Springs mayor John Suthers said that the attacker’s motive could be inferred from the location he chose. Violence against clinics raises an important legal question: Does Planned Parenthood have a Second Amendment right to bear arms in self-defense?

The question might seem absurd. Planned Parenthood can’t walk down the block with a Glock in its holster.

Yet Planned Parenthood is a corporation — a legal person — and corporations enjoy many of same the rights as natural persons. In Citizens United, the Supreme Court held that corporations have a First Amendment right to make independent political campaign expenditures from their treasuries. Last year, in a case involving the chain store Hobby Lobby, the Court held that corporations have religious liberty under a federal statute, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The first Supreme Court decision recognizing corporate rights was in 1809. Long before Citizens United, courts held that corporations have a Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures, a Fifth Amendment right against uncompensated takings of property, and …Read the Rest

Source:: Cato Institute