Bar on teen 'squeal' law pleases rights groups

February 16, 1983

Civil rights groups claimed a significant victory after a New York federal judge temporarily barred the so-called ''squeal law'' Monday. The action blocks a rule that would have required federally funded family planning clinics to notify parents when their teen-age daughters received contraceptives. It is likely the Department of Health and Human Services, however, will challenge Judge Henry Werker's injunction, Monitor legal correspondent Curtis J. Sitomer reports.

A spokesman for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which opposes the department's rule, says his group now will try to get a permanent injunction against it. The center and other opponents read the regulation as being in conflict with congressional action to provide funds to combat teen-age pregnancy.