Cite as: 505 U. S. 833 (1992)
Opinion of Blackmun, J.
understanding of the family, the individual, or the Constitution." Ante, at 897.
B
The Court has held that limitations on the right of privacy are permissible only if they survive "strict" constitutional scrutiny—that is, only if the governmental entity imposing the restriction can demonstrate that the limitation is both necessary and narrowly tailored to serve a compelling governmental interest. Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U. S. 479, 485 (1965). We have applied this principle specifically in the context of abortion regulations. Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S., at 155.5
Roe implemented these principles through a framework that was designed "to ensure that the woman's right to choose not become so subordinate to the State's interest in promoting fetal life that her choice exists in theory but not in fact," ante, at 872. Roe identified two relevant state interests: "an interest in preserving and protecting the health of the pregnant woman" and an interest in "protecting the potentiality of human life." 410 U. S., at 162. With respect to the State's interest in the health of the mother, "the 'compelling' point . . . is at approximately the end of the first trimester," because it is at that point that the mortality rate in abortion approaches that in childbirth. Id., at 163. With respect to the State's interest in potential life, "the 'compelling' point is at viability," because it is at that point that the
5 To say that restrictions on a right are subject to strict scrutiny is not to say that the right is absolute. Regulations can be upheld if they have no significant impact on the woman's exercise of her right and are justified by important state health objectives. See, e. g., Planned Parenthood of Central Mo. v. Danforth, 428 U. S. 52, 65-67, 79-81 (1976) (upholding requirements of a woman's written consent and recordkeeping). But the Court today reaffirms the essential principle of Roe that a woman has the right "to choose to have an abortion before viability and to obtain it without undue interference from the State." Ante, at 846. Under Roe, any more than de minimis interference is undue.
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