Practice Areas
Reproductive Rights
In 1973 the United States Supreme Court decided the landmark case of Roe v. Wade The next case to interpret a woman’s reproductive rights was Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania, et al., v. Robert P. Casey, et al., in 1992.That case was followed by Stenberg v. Carhart. The passing of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2003 was a response to the Stenberg case. The essence of all of the case law was that the reproductive right of a woman is her choice until such time as viability, at which time the government has a legitimate interest in the matter. All of these cases set out an exception for the health of the mother.
In April of 2007, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Gonzales v. Carthart, dealing with the constitutionality of the statute which banned “partial birth” abortions. That April of 2007 decision upheld the constitutionality of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. That decision by the United States Supreme Court did not carve out an exception for the health of the mother and permits late term abortions past viability as long as the “partial-birth” procedure is not used. This topic is sure to be revisited.
Reproductive Rights FAQs
Reproductive Rights Articles
You may also want to visit our Family Law FAQ and Publications pages for additional information.