More....abortion

The Christian Science Monitor reports nine justices in the Supreme Court made a move towards compromise on the case of upholding or striking down a New Hampshire law that require a teen to inform a parent before getting an abortion. The case was sent back down to the lower court to decide whether or not the parent notification law should be completely abolished or if only a part of it should be followed. The center of the case was if the New Hampshire law followed two constitutional requirements.

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 that would
allow a teen to obtain an abortion without first telling a parent in an instance
when any delay might threaten her health?

The parent notification law was passed in 2003 and required at least one parent be notified at least 48 hours before a minor obtains an abortion. A judge could decide a teen was mature enough to make the decision. If the teen’s life was in danger a doctor could waive the parent notification. A group called Planned Parenthood sued, saying the law violated constitutional rights.

Between the years of 1972 and 1973 the United States Supreme Court argued the case of Roe v.s Wade. Jane Roe challenged the criminal abortion laws in Texas. The abortion laws forbade abortion unless the life of the mother was in danger. Roe argued the laws were unconstitutional because they violated the privacy of the woman. The Supreme Court reached a decision and overuled all state laws that banned or restricted abortion. The woman's right to an abortion fell under the woman's right to privacy granted in the fourteenth amendment. Although the right to abortion during the entire pregnancy was granted, different levels of state control over the regulation of abortion in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy was also defined.