The Supreme Court has declined to hear a case involving Montana’s Parental Consent for Abortion Act, a law designed to safeguard minors and uphold parental rights. Enacted in 2013, the law required girls under 18 to obtain notarized, written parental consent for an abortion unless granted a judicial waiver. However, the law never took effect due to immediate legal challenges. Montana’s state courts struck it down, arguing it violated the state constitution’s privacy protections. In effect, the law was left unenforceable, sparking debate over its implications.
Pro-life advocates in Montana argued that the absence of this law leaves minors vulnerable to making irreversible decisions without parental guidance or support. Further, they contended that striking down the Parental Consent for Abortion Act undermines parents’ fundamental rights to be involved in significant medical decisions affecting their children. The case’s rejection by SCOTUS means the state court’s ruling stands.
Although the Supreme Court provided no explanation for its refusal to hear the case, and no justices formally dissented, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas issued a statement clarifying their votes. “In the 12-year history of this case,” the brief stated, “the courts below were never asked to decide whether parents have a fundamental ‘right to know about, and participate in, their child’s medical decisions,’ much less an absolute right to that effect.”
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It continued: “The point bears repeating: the parental right, as described by Petitioners here, was never a controverted issue (and so the state courts had no need to resolve it). And Petitioners never suggested below, as they do now, that parents’ federal due process rights are the beginning and end of the analysis (and so the state courts had no opportunity to decide that issue either). This Court should not resolve issues that were never raised below.”
The statement also noted that “the petition does not challenge the Montana Supreme Court’s equal protection holding,” highlighting that “the Montana Supreme Court held that the Consent Act violates a minor’s fundamental right to privacy because it conditions a minor’s abortion access on parental consent.” As summarized by The Epoch Times, the state supreme court found that “although parents enjoy a fundamental right over the custody and care of their children, their right does not supersede a minor’s right to have an abortion.”
Mary Szoch, director of Family Research Council’s Center for Human Dignity, offered a straightforward perspective on the issue in a comment to The Washington Stand. “When a minor is pregnant,” she stated, “that child’s parents should know. They should be the ones who are there to provide their child with the love, support, and care she needs during what is undoubtedly one of the most difficult decisions a teenager can face.”
These two cases underscore the ongoing legal battles over individual and parental rights in the U.S. While SCOTUS’s decision to hear Olivier’s case offers hope for clarifying free speech protections, the rejection of Montana’s case leaves unresolved questions about parental consent and the protection of minors. But according to Szoch, it’s important for pro-life advocates not to be dissuaded.
She concluded, “The Supreme Court’s rejection of this case should not stop the pro-life movement from working to make certain that every woman who is unexpectedly pregnant has the love and support she needs to choose life — and from working to make sure that parents are an integral part of that.”
LifeNews Note: Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand, where this originally appeared.
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Author: Sarah Holliday
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