Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments in Abortion Case

In a surprise move last term, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a state appeal seeking to reinstate a New Hampshire law requiring parental notification before minors can terminate their pregnancies. The case, Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood, will be heard on November 30, 2005.

The First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the law unconstitutional because it does not have a health exception in the event of a medical emergency. The law in question would have required health care providers to notify a parent at least 48 hours before providing an abortion to a woman under the age of 18, or for young women to obtain a court waiver of this requirement. The law contained no exception for circumstances in which the delay would seriously threaten a young woman’s health. Instead the law would have forced physicians to wait to provide emergency medical care until the young woman was facing imminent death.

“The outcome of this case could drastically affect women’s and health and safety,” said Reina Schiffrin, President/CEO of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic.

Although the case originates from a parental notice law, the focus of the issue to be decided by the court is how states can restrict access to abortion and specifically whether restrictions must contain an exception to protect a woman’s health. In its last major abortion case, Stenberg v. Carhart, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that state laws restricting abortion must provide an exception to protect a woman’s health