Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth
Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth, 428 U.S. 52, is a United States Supreme Court case on abortion. The plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of a Missouri statute regulating abortion. The Court upheld the right to have an abortion, declaring unconstitutional the statute's requirement of prior written consent from a parent or a spouse.
Background of the case
The District Court's ruling
The plaintiffs brought suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, seeking injunctive relief. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2281, the court convened a three-judge panel to try the case. The panel consisted of Eighth Circuit Judge William Hedgcock Webster, District Judge Harris Kenneth Wangelin, and Senior District Judge Roy Winfield Harper. The court held that Section 6 of the challenged act, which "prescribe the standard of care which a person performing an abortion must exercise for the protection of the fetus" was unconstitutionally overbroad. It upheld the rest of the challenged act. Judge Webster concurred with the panel majority in finding 6 overboard and upholding "the constitutional validity of Section 2, Section 3, Section 10 and Section 11." He dissented from the majority opinion with respect to four other provisions: 3, 3, 7, and 9.The Court's opinions
The majority opinion
The court struck down the provisions of the statute that required spousal and parental consent to obtain an abortion. The court upheld the statute's recordkeeping requirement for abortion facilities and physicians that perform abortions.In addressing the issue of spousal consent, the Court upheld the lower court's decision that just as the state could not regulate or proscribe abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy nor could the state "delegate to a spouse veto power."