Court Ruling in Ayotte Case
For Immediate Release: Jan. 30, 2014
Supreme Court Ruling in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood Recognizes Protections for Women's Health and Safety
WASHINGTON, DC — The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) welcomed today's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, et al, which unanimously recognized its precedent that abortion laws must protect women's health and safety.
"Today's decision tells politicians that they cannot jeopardize women's health when they pass abortion laws," said Jennifer Dalven, deputy director of the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project, and the attorney who argued Ayotte before the Court.
The case began as a challenge to a New Hampshire law that prevents doctors from performing an abortion for a teenager under the age of 18 until 48 hours after a parent has been notified. Contrary to 30 years of Supreme Court precedent, the law contained no medical emergency exception to protect a pregnant teenager's health. The lower courts struck down the law because of this omission.
"We are relieved that the Supreme Court left in place protections for women's health and safety in abortion laws," said PPFA Interim President Karen Pearl. "We continue to believe that the law should be struck down by the lower court."
The Supreme Court asked the lower court to consider whether the New Hampshire legislature would have wanted this law with a medical emergency exception. If not, the Court said the law should be struck down in its entirety.
"The New Hampshire legislature intentionally omitted a medical emergency exception when it passed this law," Dalven said. "We continue to believe that the lower court will recognize this and strike down the law in its entirety."
New Hampshire abortion clinics and providers who brought the legal challenge are Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, the Concord Feminist Health Center, the Feminist Health Center of Portsmouth, and Wayne Goldner, M.D.
Attorneys for the respondents include Dalven, Steven R. Shapiro, Louise Melling, Talcott Camp, Corinne Schiff, Brigitte Amiri, and Diana Kasdan of the ACLU; Dara Klassel of Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Martin P. Honigberg of Sulloway & Hollis, PLLC; and Lawrence Vogelman, of Nixon Raiche Manning Vogelman & Leach, PA and legal director of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union.
For more information, go to: www.ayottevplannedparenthood.org.