• Last updated on November 11, 2022

In a companion case to Roe v. Wade (1973), the Supreme Court ruled that Georgia’s restrictions on a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy were unconstitutional.

Before the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Doe v. Bolton, Georgia’s abortion legislation stipulated that only medically necessary abortions were allowed and that abortions were available only to state residents. In addition, all abortions had to be performed in licensed hospitals and approved beforehand by a hospital committee, with two physicians concurring that the abortion was necessary. Based on the principles established in Roe v. Wade[case]Roe v. Wade[Roe v. Wade] (1973), decided on the same day, the Court found that all these regulations infringed on a woman’s fundamental right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy before the fetus attains viability. The Doe decision made it clear that the Court would apply the strict scrutiny test in deciding whether restraints on abortions were permissible.Abortion;Doe v. Bolton[Doe v. Bolton]

Abortion

Due process, substantive

Judicial scrutiny

Roe v. Wade

Categories: History