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1981 United States Supreme Court case
H. L. v. Matheson
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Full case name
| H. L. v.
Scott M. Matheson
, Governor of Utah, et al.
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Citations
| 450
U.S.
398
(
more
)
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Prior
| 604
P.2d
907
(
Utah
1979); probable jurisdiction noted,
445
U.S.
903 (1980).
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A state may require a doctor to inform a teenaged girl's parents before performing an abortion or face criminal penalty.
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- Chief Justice
- Warren E. Burger
- Associate Justices
- William J. Brennan Jr.
·
Potter Stewart
Byron White
·
Thurgood Marshall
Harry Blackmun
·
Lewis F. Powell Jr.
William Rehnquist
·
John P. Stevens
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Majority
| Burger, joined by Stewart, White, Powell, Rehnquist
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Concurrence
| Powell, joined by Stewart
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Concurrence
| Stevens
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Dissent
| Marshall, joined by Brennan, Blackmun
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H. L. v. Matheson
, 450 U.S. 398 (1981), was a
United States Supreme Court
abortion
rights case, according to which a state may require a doctor to inform a teenaged girl's parents before performing an abortion or face criminal penalty.
[1]
Overview
[
edit
]
A female minor, known by her initials H.L., was living in
Utah
with her parents when she became pregnant in 1978. A doctor advised H.L. that an abortion would be in her best medical interests. A Utah law enacted in 1974 required abortion providers to "[n]otify, if possible" the parents of any female under the age of majority who is scheduled to undergo an abortion, at least 24 hours before the abortion.
[2]
Violation was a misdemeanor subject to a fine up to $1000 and/or several months imprisonment. H.L. initiated a lawsuit as part of a proposed
class action
of unmarried unemancipated females, arguing that Utah's parental notification statute was unconstitutional.
Scott M. Matheson
, then the governor of Utah, was named as the defendant.
The case made its way to the
Utah Supreme Court
, where the law was upheld as consistent with
Roe v. Wade
(1973). The judgment noted, among other points, that H.L.'s proposed class action was overly broad; and that the Utah statute mandated parental notification but did not grant parents authority to stop such an abortion.
[3]
The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Utah's statute was upheld on a 6 to 3 vote.
See also
[
edit
]
References
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edit
]
- ^
H. L. v. Matheson
,
450
U.S.
398
(1981).
- ^
Utah Code Annotated § 76-7-304(2). Note that as of 2008, the law has been revised to exclude parental notification requirement if a doctor advises an abortion is medically necessary to save the mother's life or avoid serious medical complications, if the parents have a history of abuse towards the minor female, if the pregnancy is a result of parental incest, or if the parents have not assumed responsibility for the minor's care and upbringing.
- ^
H. L. v. Matheson
,
604 P.2d 907
(
Utah
1979).
Further reading
[
edit
]
- M. H. Wolff & R. H. Hawn,
H.L. v. Matheson and the right of minors to seek abortions
, 19 Cal. West L. Rev. 74 (1982).
- B. Bridge,
Parent versus child: H.L. v. Matheson and the new abortion litigation
, 55 Wis. L. Rev. 75 (1982).
- M. A. Medler,
H.L. v. Matheson: parental notice prior to abortion
, 26 St. Louis U. L.J. 426 (1982).
- Gail H. Miller,
H. L. v. Matheson: Can Parental Notification be Required for Minors Seeking Abortions?
, 16 U. Rich. L. Rev. 429 (1982).
External links
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]
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