Supreme Court to Hear Ayotte Case November 30.

November 30 has been set as the date for the United States Supreme Court to hear Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of N. New. England. In Ayotte, the newly constituted Court will hear the challenge to New Hampshire's 2003 parental notification law.

The measure, which enjoyed widespread bipartisan support, requires that abortionists may not perform an abortion on an unemancipated minor until "at least 48 hours after written notice of the pending abortion" has been delivered to one of her parents. This requirement is waived if the "attending abortion provider certifies in the pregnant minor's medical record that the abortion is necessary to prevent the minor's death and there is insufficient time to provide required notice."

The law, signed by then Governor Craig Benson in June 2003, was to take effect in December. However, in November, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, Concord Feminist Health Center, Feminist Health Center of Portsmouth, and a private physician successfully filed a complaint with the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire for a declaratory judgment that the act was unconstitutional and an injunction to prevent its enforcement once it was to become effective. Last November the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston agreed with the lower court. Both cited the absence of an explicit exception to protect the mother's health. As required by prior Supreme Court decisions, the law also contains a judicial bypass by which minors can avoid telling their parents by going to a judge.

The law was closely modeled on the Minnesota law upheld by the Supreme Court in Hodgson v. Minnesota (1990). The law has saved many lives.

"Secret abortion on minors is child abuse," Citizens for Life executive director, Roger Stenson told NRL News. "This law was passed to protect our daughters from abortionists. Parental notice removes the wall, erected by government inaction that blocks minor girls from receiving the counsel of their parents at a time when it is most needed."

There are two important questions raised by Ayotte. First, must a parental notice law include a "health" exception, ...