The Supreme Court upheld a law requiring that one parent of an unmarried minor be notified before the performance of an abortion, unless the abortion was authorized by a court.
By a 6-3 margin, the Supreme Court found that the Ohio regulations did not place too many obstacles on applicants. In order to obtain a judicial bypass, a young woman was required to show by clear and convincing evidence that she was mature or that the abortion was in her best interest. The dissenters argued that the procedures were overly complicated and that approval could take longer than three weeks. On the same day, the Court approved of a two-parent notification requirement with a judicial bypass in Hodgson v. Minnesota
Abortion
Hodgson v. Minnesota
Judicial scrutiny
Privacy, right to