"Roe also cited with approval Buck v. Bell. Buck upheld the power of the state to sterilize mental defectives. The Buck Court said very bluntly, “The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes.” And then Buck cited Jacobson v. Massachusetts, a vaccination case. Before Roe, I think every commentator would have thought that Buck v. Bell was no longer good law. It was like an old, derelict ship, maybe not officially decommissioned but ready to sink. Roe v. Wade resurrected Buck v. Bell. It cited it with approval and relied on it. If a future Court would seek to approve compulsory sterilization, it could cite Roe as authority, as well as citing Buck v. Bell."