US Supreme Court to Rule on Abortion in November
The newly comprised U.S. Supreme Court will hear an abortion case in November: Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood, 04-1144. This case will reveal the thinking of our new Chief Justice, John Roberts, and possibly of Harriet Miers if she is confirmed by the full senate.
The case arises out of a “parental notification” law in New Hampshire. (CA will decide its own “parental notification law” by a ballot measure to amend the State Constitution on Nov. 8, 2005, as Proposition 73).
The Boston based 1st Circuit Court of Appeals ruled New Hampshire’s law unconstitutional because it didn’t include a provision excepting notification if required for the mother’s health, and because it allegedly stated too narrow an exception to protect the life of the mother. The case revisits the question: Are “life and health exceptions” required in a statute that restricting access to abortion? If so, are those exceptions to be determined by specific state standards or left entirely to the medical opinion of the mother’s physician? (Currently, the a “health” exception is required constitutionally, and the exception is left completely to the discretion of the mother’s physician, so that the state is unable to set any medical standards or threshold findings as a condition of the abortion).
