Supreme Court hears abortion case

[Emsworth]

The idea that a child should be able to get an abortion without her parents' knowledge is a shocking one. A student cannot even get an aspirin from the school nurse without parental permission. It would be a strange dichotomy if states could require parental consent for an aspirin, but not parental consent for abortions.

The New Hampshire law in this case does not require parental consent; it only requires parental notification. It is, in my opinion, ludicrous to argue that this statute is unconstitutional. The fact that this kind of case has even reached the Supreme Court is a sad reflection of its chaotic and disarrayed constitutional jurisprudence.

According to the Supreme Court, a law that imposes an "undue burden" on women seeking abortions is unconstitutional. Needless to say, this rule is utterly baseless; nothing in the Constitution even remotely suggests that women have the "right to choose." However, even if we apply the undue burden standard, it seems to me that the New Hampshire statute is acceptable. Under the "emergency clause" in the law, parental notification is not necessary whenever the child's life is in danger. To require parental notification in other cases is completely harmless, and does not impose any sort of "undue burden" on women seeking abortions.

[Emsworth]

In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Supreme Court upheld a law that required a minor to obtain parental consent before getting an abortion.

It is true that Casey involved abortions in general, rather than abortions to protect the mother's life or health. Thus, it could be argued that while parental consent/notification laws may be constitutional in general cases, they would be unconstitutional in cases involving the health of the mother. This argument, however, strikes me as unsound. For all kinds of health procedures--giving a child medicine, performing a surgery, etc.--parental consent or notification is necessary. Abortion should be treated no differently.

[Emsworth]

Got a transcript?

I think that transcripts become available only about two weeks after a hearing.