A father's interest in having a child--perhaps his only child--may be unmatched by any other interest in his life. It is truly surprising that the state must assign a greater value to a mother's decision to cut off a potential human life by abortion than to a father's decision to let it mature into a live child.
-William H. Rehnquist, (Minority opinion in a 6-3 ruling that prohibited states from requiring women to obtain their husbands' consent for abortions), July 1, 1976