Abstract

PIP: Clearly, abortion in the US continues to be a major medico-legal issue which will not go away. 5 major abortion cases are scheduled for review by the US Supreme Court during its 1982-83 term. Taken together, these 5 cases challenge several of the key conclusions of the Court's review of the abortion question. The primary focus of the cases is the state's power to regulate the abortion decision during the 1st and 2nd trimester of the pregnancy. 2 cases involve ordinances passed by the City of Akron regulating access to abortion in areas such as consent and notification requirements and the location of abortions after the 1st trimester. 2 of the cases involve a Missouri statute also dealing with the requirement that abortions after the 1st trimester be performed in a hospital. The final case involves a Virginia criminal prosecution of a physician accused of violating the state's requirement of in-hospital performance of a 2nd trimester abortion. In the case of Roe v. Wade, the Court had established the "trimester trilogy" governing state regulation of the abortion procedure. For the stage of the pregnancy prior to the end of the 1st trimester, the Court held that the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgment of the pregnant women's attending physician. For the stage of the pregnancy subsequent to the end of the 1st trimester, the Court ruled that the state may promote its interest in the health of the mother by regulating the abortion procedure in ways reasonably related to maternal health. For the stage of pregnancy subsequent to viability, the state may promote its interest in the potentiality of human life by regulation, even prohibiting abortion, except where it is necessary to preserve the mother's life or health. These 5 cases challenge the role of the Court in determining the scope of appropriate state regulation at various stages of the pregnancy. Suffering a loss of prestige in the 10 years since the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton original abortion decisions, the Supreme Court as an institution finds itself at this time at 1 of those many critical junctures with enormous implications for the distribution of power among the 3 branches of government. The abortion cases reflect the conflict over the appropriate roles of the legislative and judicial branches of government in a complex public policy area.