High Court Upholds Parental Notification But Encourages Loopholes
Washington, DC — The Supreme Court today validated the constitutionality of laws that require parental notification before minors may receive abortions. In a 10-page ruling authored by retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the Court vacated a lower court’s ruling that the New Hampshire law was permanently unconstitutional but said that the lower court could enjoin the state from applying the law to cases where the life and health of the mother is threatened.
O’Connor said, “In the case that is before us … the lower courts need not have invalidated the law wholesale. Only a few applications of New Hampshire’s parental notification statute would prevent a constitutional problem. So long as they are faithful to legislative intent, then, in this case, the lower courts can issue a declaratory judgment and an injunction prohibiting the statute’s unconstitutional application.”
“This ruling is good news and bad news for us,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “We are glad that the court has indicated that parental notification laws are indeed Constitutional, but we have found that the ‘life and health’ exceptions to these kinds of laws are loopholes that end up unnecessarily costing the innocent lives of pre-born babies. In that respect we are disappointed that O’Connor has encouraged loopholes that could make a life-saving law that protects parental rights nearly meaningless.”
“This decision emphasized the fact that we need a rapid vote on Judge Samuel Alito. We look forward to the day when both pro-abortion O’Connor and her ‘undue burden’ standard are gone.”
