Quote:
Originally Posted by MysticCat
The general Roe rule was a trimester rule: - First trimester -- a state cannot restrict a woman's right to an abortion
- Second trimester -- a state can regulate abortions procedure during the second trimester provided it does so in ways reasonably related to the mother's health
- Third trimester (or when the fetus is viable) -- a state can choose to restrict or proscribe abortion as it sees fit except that a state cannot prohibit abortion where it is necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, to preserve the life or health of the mother.
Later cases have modified this some, but it's still probably the basic rule of thumb. |
The trimester framework was thrown out in
Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In that case, the Court retained the viability aspect of the test but made it something of a moving target. They said that prior to the point of viability, the woman has the right to make decisions regarding her own body [I paraphrase], after the point of viability, however, the state's interest in protecting life kicks in and the state can do whatever it deems necessary, even proscribing abortions altogether. The Court, of course, left us with an exception which probably eats the rule -- when the health of the mother is in question, the state's interest in protecting life yields to that. What this "health" interest is, no one really knows.