Late-Term Abortions
Supreme Court Precedent and Federal Law
The Supreme Court has held that a woman has a constitutional right to choose whether to terminate her pregnancy. Although a State cannot prohibit a woman from having an abortion, it can promote its interest in potential human life by regulating, and even proscribing, abortion after fetal viability so long as it allows an exception for abortions that are necessary for the preservation of the life or health of the mother. In Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992), the Court expanded a State’s authority to regulate abortion by permitting regulation at the pre-viability stage so long as such…
