Planned Parenthood v. Casey
The Court reaffirmed the central holding of Roe while replacing the trimester framework with the undue burden test.
Overview
Pennsylvania imposed waiting periods, informed consent, parental consent, and spousal notification requirements on abortion. In a jointly authored opinion by Justices O'Connor, Kennedy, and Souter, the Court preserved what it called the essential holding of Roe: the right to abortion before viability without undue interference. The joint opinion relied heavily on stare decisis, emphasizing how people had organized their lives around the liberty. The spousal notification provision was struck as an undue burden. Casey governed abortion law for three decades until Dobbs discarded both frameworks in 2022.
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