Facts
- Minnesota enacted Minn. Stat. § 144.343 regulating abortions for individuals under 18.
- Subdivision 2 required a physician to notify both parents at least 48 hours before performing an abortion on a minor, subject to limited exceptions (medical emergency; written consent of both parents; or the minor’s declaration of parental abuse or neglect triggering reporting to authorities).
- Subdivision 6 provided a conditional judicial bypass: if enforcement of subdivision 2 was enjoined, two-parent notice would still apply unless a court ordered the abortion to proceed without notice upon a showing that the minor was mature and capable of informed consent or that no-notice was in her best interests.
- Physicians, clinics, pregnant minors, and a minor’s mother sued, alleging violations of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses.
- After a bench trial, the district court held the statute unconstitutional and enjoined enforcement.
- The en banc Eighth Circuit reversed, holding the bypass provision constitutional and sufficient to sustain the statute; it also upheld the 48-hour waiting period.
- The Supreme Court granted review of both the invalidation of subdivision 2 standing alone and the validity of subdivision 6’s bypass scheme.
Issues
- Whether a requirement that a physician notify both parents 48 hours before a minor’s abortion, without any judicial bypass, violates the Fourteenth Amendment.
- Whether a two-parent notification requirement is constitutional when coupled with a judicial bypass allowing a minor to proceed without notice upon a finding of maturity or best interests.
- Whether a 48-hour waiting period tied to parental notification is an unconstitutional burden on a minor’s ability to obtain an abortion.
Decision
- The Court held unconstitutional the two-parent notification requirement in subdivision 2 insofar as it mandated notice to both parents without a bypass alternative.
- The Court upheld subdivision 6’s two-parent notice requirement when accompanied by a judicial bypass permitting waiver of notice upon proof of maturity or best interests.
- The Court upheld the 48-hour waiting period on the record presented.
- The Court affirmed the Eighth Circuit’s judgment in full, through a fragmented set of opinions with shifting majorities.
Legal Principles
- A state may not impose a two-parent notification requirement for a minor’s abortion when the requirement, as applied across varied family circumstances, is not reasonably related to legitimate state interests and poses serious risks in dysfunctional, abusive, or noncustodial-parent contexts.
- Parental involvement requirements affecting minors are more likely to be constitutionally permissible when paired with an effective judicial bypass allowing authorization without notice based on (i) the minor’s maturity and capacity for informed consent or (ii) the minor’s best interests.
- A waiting period associated with parental notification may be upheld where it is not shown, on the evidentiary record, to create a substantial obstacle for minors as a group, particularly where a bypass option exists.
Conclusion
The Court invalidated Minnesota’s two-parent notice requirement when it operated without a judicial bypass, but sustained the statute’s alternative framework requiring two-parent notice with a maturity-or-best-interests bypass, and it upheld the associated 48-hour waiting period.