Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England sought a declaratory judgment that the New Hampshire Parental Notification Prior to Abortion Act is unconstitutional. The Act prohibits abortions for minors unless the parents have been notified. Without parental notification, a physician performing an abortion for a minor faces civil liability to the parents and criminal charges. The Act provides exceptions for abortions necessary to prevent death and for minors who have received a judicial declaration that they are mature enough to make such a decision.
Reviewing the Act, the district court adopted the standard of review from Planned Parenthood of S.E. Pa. V. Casey and Stenberg v. Carhart, which provides that laws may not impose an undue burden on the right to choose abortion, and ruled that the Act violates the Constitution. The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment, rejecting the argument of the New Hampshire Attorney General that the plaintiffs were required to show that under “no set of circumstances” is the Act valid. Applying the “undue burden” standard, the First Circuit held that the act violates the Constitution because of the narrowness of the death exception and because the Act lacks an exception that would protect the health of a pregnant minor. The court rejected the argument that the judicial bypass mechanism could be used to preserve the health and life of a minor, stating that the procedure, which might take as long as two weeks, allows the health or life of the minor to be jeopardized for too long a time.
Questions Presented:
1. Did the United States First Circuit Court of Appeals apply the correct standard in a facial challenge to a statute regulating abortion when it ruled
that the undue burden standard cited in Planned Parenthood of S.E. Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 876-77 (1992) and Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914, 921 (2000) applied
rather than the "no set of circumstances" standard set forth in United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739 (1987)?
2. Whether the New Hampshire Parental Notification Prior to Abortion Act, N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. ยง 132:24-28 (2003) preserves the health and life of the minor through the Act's judicial bypass
mechanism and/or other state statutes?
