America and the Courts

America and the Courts covered the case of Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England before the U.S. Supreme Court. The program includes the oral arguments as audio released by the Court immediately after the arguments with still images of participants as they spoke. Also shown are the comments the attorneys made to reporters on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court following their oral arguments

In June of 2003 the New Hampshire Legislature passed the New Hampshire Parental Notification Prior to Abortion Act requiring that the doctor notify the parent of a minor at least 48 hours before performing an abortion. Without parental notification, the doctor can be sued by the minor’s parents and face possible criminal charges. A New Hampshire District court ruled that the act was unconstitutional using previous standards set by the Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood of Southeast Pennsylvania v. Casey and Stenberg v. Carhart, which provides that laws may not impose an und close