NH's Parental Notification Law Goes to the US Supreme Court

By Julie Donnelly on Thursday, December 1, 2005.

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New Hampshire has taken center stage in the national debate over abortion rights.

The US Supreme Court will decide whether the state's parental notification law for teenagers seeking abortions is constitutional.

The opportunity to present a case before the high court was a first for New Hampshire's Attorney General, Kelly Ayotte.

And many state lawmakers on both sides of the issue traveled to Washington to weigh in and to be a witness to history.

NHPR Correspondent Julie Donnelly reports.

pro-choice chanting

The protests outside the Supreme Court were smaller than expected - no more than 75 people total from all sides of the issue came out to march or hold signs.

Most of those with a political stake on one side or the other were in line to view the real action inside.

Soon New Hampshire's Attorney General, Kelly Ayotte, would ask the US Supreme court to overrule a lower court decision nullifying the state's parental notifaction law for teenagers seeking abortions.

Democratic State Senator Lou D-Allessandro was one of those standing in line.

But he wasn't there to support Ayotte.

And he pointed out that the state's democratic Governor also stood in opposition to the Attorney General's legal quest.

"i think it's unprecedented in new hampshire history for an attorney general to go against a sitting governor..."

The Attorney General has traveled a winding road to the supreme court.

She was appointed as the state's first female attorney general after her predecessor Peter Heed resigned his office in 2004.

Then when John Lynch came on board as governor, he decided to keep her as AG.

And yesterday she found herself defending the a law narrowly approved 2 years ago by the legislature and struck down by lower courts.

After her oral arguments, Ayotte's voice was hoarse, and she was visibly relieved to be out of the hot seat.

"I think the arguments went well and they had a number of probing questions...many of the questions had to do with the facial standard and whether striking down the whole statute was appropriate..."

In other words, the justices on the supreme court are trying to figure out just how many times the application of a law can be unconstitutional, before the whole law has to be thrown out.

Ayotte says that there would be be very few cases in which a girl could be harmed by waiting to notify her parents.

But Planned parenthood - who brought the suit in the first place - says that if even one girl is harmed, the law cannot stand.

Nancy Mosher is the president of planned parenthood of northern new england.

"i have seen young women in emergency situations. It's not always possible to get to a parent in time. I was gratified to hear from most of the justices that they still consider the emergency health provision to be a requiremtn to pass constitutional muster"

Those on the other side of the fence say Planned Parenthood's opposition to New Hampshire's law is not simply based on protecting health and safety.

They charge the pro-choice movement wants to protect abortion access from any and all challenges.

Phyllis Woods is a former republican representative from Dover and a co-sponsor of the original bill.

"planned parenthood has never seen a parental notification law that they've liked. If in fact we had included a health exception, they would still have fought it, as they have in other states."

There is a provision in the bill that could enable a young girl to obtain an abortion without notifying a parent or guardian .

A judge could give the girl a waiver.

But Democratic State Senator Peter Burling says he came to Washington to make sure people hear the truth on the ground in New Hampshire.
And he says the state has no judicial mechanism in place to quickly make those decisions.

"let's say it's the day before thanksgiving when you begin to experience the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy. if your parents aren't around, you're not going to get any judicial bypass until 9 am on monday. five days is a long time to wait"

The Supreme Court must now decide if these hypothetical, and likely rare, cases are enough to justify striking down the entire parental notification bill.

If the court agrees, it will likely embolden abortion rights groups to attack other restrictions on abortion access. If the Supreme Court overturns the lower court ruling and holds new hampshire's law to be constitutional - it will make it easier for abortion opponents to enact laws restricting abortion access.

A decision in the case is not likely until Spring.

For NHPR News, I'm Julie Donnelly in Washington.