News[JURIST] AP is reporting that the US Supreme Court [official website] has ordered a lower court to reconsider the constitutionality of a New Hampshire abortion law. In a unanimous decision in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England [Duke Law backgrounder], the Court vacated and remanded a First Circuit ruling [text], which struck down New Hampshire's parental notification law for teenage abortions because it did not contain a medical exception to protect the health of the minor. The Court held that "If enforcing a statute that regulates access to abortion would be unconstitutional in medical emergencies, invalidating the statute entirely is not always necessary or justified, for lower courts may be able to render narrower declaratory and injunctive relief." The Court heard arguments [JURIST report] in the case in November. Read the Court's opinion [text], written by Justice O'Connor. AP has more.
