A federal judge has placed a temporary injunction on an anti-abortion law in Nevada that requires parental notification before a minor can obtain the procedure.
Abortion rights advocates oppose notification or permission abortion laws for minors, noting that they can pose a danger to those who have difficult home lives with their parents or guardians.
The Nevada law was passed in 1985 but has never been enforced, as it was immediately challenged and deemed unlawful due to precedents established by Roe v. Wade. However, after Roe was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022, the 1985 law was deemed enforceable, and was set to go into effect this month.
Planned Parenthood of Nevada filed a challenge to the law, arguing that it is “unconstitutionally vague.” Responding to that challenge last week, U.S. District Judge Anne Traum placed a temporary hold on the law. Traum also told Planned Parenthood that if they wanted to extend the block beyond April, they would need to file another brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Parental notification or permission laws exist in around three-quarters of U.S. states. Nevada’s law allows a minor who wants an abortion to obtain a “judicial bypass” from a judge if they worry about their safety due to their parents’ potential reactions. But such exemptions come with obstacles that render them almost meaningless, including transportation barriers and minors not knowing about the bypass or how to obtain one. Judges with anti-abortion biases can also ignore safety concerns and simply say “no” to minors seeking an exemption.
Several health organizations are opposed to parental notification laws, including the American Medical Association, the Society for Adolescent Medicine, the American Public Health Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and more, according to Advocates for Youth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting sexual health rights for minors.
“Parental involvement laws often delay young people’s abortion care, leading to costlier, later-term abortion procedures,” the group noted on its website.
Other abortion rights advocates in the state say enforcement of the law is redundant and ineffective.
“Most minors already consult their parents beforehand” if they’re seeking an abortion, Wild West Action Fund said in a Facebook post, adding that, “for many others, abuse incest, safety threats and a myriad of other concerns keep them from disclosing their abortion.”
“Minors are capable of making these decisions for their own bodies and futures,” the organization added. “Parental notification will not and can not create a healthy home environment where one doesn’t already exist.”
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