Planned Parenthood Assn. of Kansas City, Mo., Inc. v. Ashcroft

Background

An abortion provider group, two doctors, and a clinic sued Missouri over four rules. The challenged laws required second‑trimester abortions to be done in hospitals, required tissue from every abortion be sent to a pathologist, required a second physician be present for post‑viability abortions, and required minors to get parental or court consent. Lower courts split on these rules and the case reached the Supreme Court for final review.

Reasoning

The Court followed its recent analysis in a related city case to strike down the hospital‑only rule as an unreasonable limit on abortion access. It accepted Missouri’s interest in protecting viable fetal life and held that the second‑physician requirement reasonably furthers that interest. The Court found the pathology‑report rule tied to accepted medical practices and health‑monitoring needs, viewing the modest added cost as justified. It also agreed that Missouri’s law provides a constitutionally acceptable judicial alternative to parental consent and therefore upheld the consent scheme as construed.

Real world impact

Clinics can continue to provide many second‑trimester abortions without being limited to hospitals. Clinics must submit tissue samples to pathologists, which adds a modest per‑case cost. Doctors performing post‑viability abortions must, in most cases, have a second physician available. The Court vacated a broad award of attorney fees and sent that issue back for further proceedings.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Blackmun (joined by three Justices) would have struck down the pathology and second‑physician rules and found the consent scheme problematic. Justice O’Connor (joined by two Justices) disagreed about the hospital rule but joined the Court on other upholds.