November 30, 2005, the Supreme Court heard Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, an abortion case that could seriously jeopardize the health of countless women across the country seeking an abortion. The case looks at a New Hampshire law which requires doctors to notify a parent at least 48 hours before performing an abortion for a teenager. The statute does not contain an exception for the ban when the teen is facing a medical emergency, however, and consequently, a federal court declared the law unconstitutional in 2003. That ruling was later upheld by an appellate court. New Hampshire appealed the appellate decision to the Supreme Court.

In reviewing Ayotte, the Court is addressing two questions: one, must an abortion restriction, not just New Hampshire's, include a medical emergency exception, and two, can doctors and women continue to challenge dangerous abortion restrictions and ask the courts to strike them down before they can harm women?

On October 12, the Center for Reproductive Rights, along with thirty reproductive rights groups, filed a friend-of-the-court brief to the Supreme Court, addressing the second question. The state is seeking to overrule thirty years of abortion jurisprudence which say that constitutional challenges to abortion restrictions may be brought before the restriction actually takes effect and before a woman has suffered harm to her health and her rights. The Center’s brief addresses this second question.

"This case could fundamentally change the legal landscape for abortion in this country," said Nancy Northup, President of the Center for Reproductive Rights. "For years, we’ve challenged dangerous laws such as New Hampshire’s before they cause any harm to a woman’s health and before they prevent a woman from exercising her right to terminate her pregnancy. New Hampshire would rather have us wait until a woman is on the brink of medical tragedy before a lawsuit can be filed."

Read Center President Nancy Northrop's press statement on the Supreme Court hearing >>
Read the press release announcing the Center filing a friend-of-the-court brief >>
Read the entire friend-of-the-court brief >>
Learn more about the Supreme Court case, Stenberg v. Carhart, in which the Court held that a woman's health is paramount >>