Court weighs girls' access to abortion

Wednesday the US Supreme Court takes up a case that could change the abortion battle in a fundamental way, potentially allowing state lawmakers across the nation to enact more-restrictive regulations on a woman's right to choose abortion.

The case, Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, examines the constitutionality of a New Hampshire law requiring teenage girls to notify at least one parent before obtaining abortions. It carries broad implications for reproductive rights nationwide, and could be a turning point in a debate that has divided the country for more than three decades.

Instead of seeking to overturn the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, the case marks a change in tactics by antiabortion forces trying to narrow and constrain the reach of the 1973 abortion precedent.

In addition, it highlights the significance of the potential replacement on the high court of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a supporter of abortion rights, with nominee Samuel Alito, who is believed to personally oppose abortion. If a majority of justices vote to uphold the New Hampshire law, their decision could lay the groundwork for a major shift in the constitutional framework erected by Justice O'Connor upholding women's reproductive rights.

Timing could be everything. O'Connor will participate in Wednesday's oral argument, but unless she is still on the sharply divided court when the decision is announced, her vote won't count. If Judge Alito is confirmed in the meantime, the case might have to be reargued next year. Should that happen, O'Connor's vote would be replaced by that of Alito.

While the case does not threaten the central holding of Roe v. Wade, analysts are watching to see if the court's conservatives - and new Chief Justice John Roberts - are willing to use the New Hampshire case to topple a pillar of O'Connor's abortion jurisprudence.

In decisions since 1992, O'Connor has insisted that the Constitution requires invalidation of state laws that create an "undue burden" on a woman's right to an abortion when the procedure is necessary to preserve her health.

Lawmakers in New Hampshire deliberately excluded a broad health exception from their parental-notification law. Abortion-rights groups say the exclusion renders the law unconstitutional. A federal judge and a federal appeals court panel agreed.

Antiabortion activists counter that the New Hampshire law strikes the proper balance between permitting abortions and encouraging alternatives.

They say the New Hampshire issue is different than other abortion fights. It is not about an adult woman's fundamental right to choose for herself, they say. Rather it is a balance between a pregnant teen's constitutional right to choose and the constitutional right of parents to raise their children without government interference in highly personal matters dealing with medical procedures, healthcare, and important life choices.

"The idea that we should have the government come between a child and her parents is a violation of everything we believe in this country," says Kelly Shackelford of the Liberty Legal Institute in Plano, Texas.

If juveniles need parental approval to open a bank account, get a tattoo, or even use the services of a tanning salon, parents certainly have a right to be informed that their child is about to undergo an abortion, pro-life activists say.

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