In a surprise 9-0 decision yesterday, the US Supreme Court ruled on New Hampshire's parental consent law. They basically upheld a woman's right to an abortion. It appears that Sandra Day O'Conner was instramental is striking a middle ground.
The main questions that the justices needed to adress were: Did the law create an undue burden to a woman's right to have an abortion? Was the law invalid because it did not include a broad health exception?
What the court basically did was skirt the core issues. They remanded the issue back to the lower court saying that the law did not have be to rejected wholesale, but only those portions of the law that were unconstitutional. they asked the lower-court to re-visit the issue and invalidate only those parts that were unconstitutional.
It appears that the court is trying to de-politicize the issue and to bring it back to a happy medium. The thing that makes this impressive is that despite the addition of Justice Roberts, they still managed to strike a deal that made for a rock solid decision. So it means that not all is lost! Of course, let's hope that once Roberts gets comfirtable, he doesn't loose his reasonablilty.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Sandra Day is Still in Form
Posted by USWest at 12:58 PM
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I believe it's fair to say the 9-0 ruling reaffirmed a woman's constitutional guarantee of her right to an abortion if her health or life is in danger. No reproductive freedoms were reaffirmed by the court, however. The decision also indicates that parental notification for minors is not an undue burden under ordinary circumstances.
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