On November 30, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case of Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, a lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood against the state of New Hampshire seeking to prohibit the state from enforcing a recently enacted parental notification law. The trial and appellate courts both found the law unconstitutional, so the state appealed to the Supreme Court. While the case began as a challenge to a law restricting young women’s access to abortion, in fact the issues the Court will consider this fall are much broader than that. The outcome of this case – particularly if it is decided after Justice O’Connor has left the Court – could affect virtually every abortion-related case and statute in the country.

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