Parental Notification for Abortion Faces High Court
Monday, Nov. 28, 2005
Posted: 10:12:50AM EST

Should parents be notified before their underage daughter gets an abortion? That’s the main question the U.S. Supreme Court will be faced with on Wednesday, when it hears a case not focused on the legality of abortion, but what restrictions may be placed on it.

In 2003, the New Hampshire legislature passed a law requiring parental notification 48 hours in advance of the abortion, but a federal appeals court struck down the law because the law did not contain an exception to protect the health of the mother in emergency situations. The law did contain a “judicial bypass” to allow a court to decide if the procedure could go on without parental consent.

Planned Parenthood, an organization which provides women and teens with access to abortions, sued the State of New Hampshire before the law could take effect, arguing that the emergency medical exception was not sufficient. Although the mother’s life would not be at stake, the mother’s health could be severely compromised under that law, the group argued. Story