WASHINGTON, DC (January 19, 2006)— A spokeswoman for the Pro-Life
Secretariat of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops addressed
the Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of
Northern New England.
“In Ayotte, the Supreme Court returns the challenge to New Hampshire’s
parental notification law back to the district court without answering
major questions posed in the case,” said Deirdre McQuade, Director of
Planning and Information for the Pro-Life Secretariat.
“The lower court, appropriately, was told it should not have preemptively
invalidated an entire abortion regulation on the basis of a potentially
unconstitutional application to a small number of hypothetical cases. We
welcome this development and hope it will end the disposition of lower
courts to enjoin the enforcement of reasonable, commonsense abortion
regulations for years while challenges are appealed.”
McQuade then drew attention to the opinion’s limitations. “But the Court
missed an opportunity to address the substantive legal questions raised in
Ayotte and we are left with more questions than answers -- especially with
regard to the so-called health exception first established 33 years ago in
Doe v. Bolton,” she said.
“This case concerns the validity of a New Hampshire law that lets parents
participate in life-shaping decisions of their children. That law reflects
the common sense principle that caring parents know best what their
children need. But neither the lower courts nor state legislatures have
been given the guidance necessary to address these issues. And that is
unfortunate.”