Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey

Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

Pennsylvania enacted several abortion restrictions including a 24-hour waiting period, parental consent for minors, and spousal notice. Planned Parenthood challenged the law, arguing it violated Roe v. Wade. The case presented the question of whether Roe should be upheld or overruled.

Significance

Justices O’Connor, Kennedy, and Souter jointly authored a plurality opinion that reaffirmed Roe’s ’essential holding’ but replaced the trimester framework with the ‘undue burden’ standard. The Court held that states may regulate abortion throughout pregnancy as long as they do not impose an ‘undue burden’ — a substantial obstacle — on a woman’s access to abortion before viability. Applying this standard, the Court upheld all Pennsylvania provisions except the spousal notice requirement. Casey represented the Court’s most extensive reconsideration of abortion law before Dobbs.

Category

US Federal Case Law