WOMEN’S HEALTH AND SAFETY UNDER ATTACK AT THE SUPREME COURT
The outcome of Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England – particularly if it is decided after Justice O’Connor has left the Court - could affect virtually every abortion-related case and statute in the country.
- The law at issue in the Ayotte case requires parental notification before an unemancipated woman under 18 years of age may have an abortion. The law does not contain any exception for:
- Victims of rape, incest, or child abuse
- Circumstances in which a woman’s health is threatened
- The question that will be argued is whether or not doctors should be able to protect the health of women who need abortions because of a medical emergency (e.g., hemorrhaging, dangerously high blood pressure, toxemia), without government interference.
- The proposed Ayotte standards would eliminate the requirement that abortion laws must include protections for women’s health.
- The Ayotte proposal would take the dangerous step of forbidding doctors from putting their patient’s health first— when that patient is a woman seeking an abortion.
- The proposed standards make government the judge of when doctors can and cannot treat patients.
- If the Supreme Court accepts Ayotte’s arguments, it will give a green light to the states to pass laws that deny women abortions in medical emergencies.
- The proposed standard would also harm women by taking away the ability to stop anti-abortion laws before they take effect, when doctors believe the laws would hurt their patients’ health.
For more information on the Ayotte case, download the fact sheet.
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