Judge strikes down key provisions of Pennsylvania’s tough abortion law

PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge on Friday struck down provisions of Pennsylvania’s restrictive abortion law, saying much of it was just a repeat of provisions previously ruled unconstitutional.

The state immediately said it would appeal the decision by Senior U.S. District Judge Daniel H. Huyett III to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and, if necessary, to the Supreme Court.

Both sides had viewed the case, reviewing the most restrictive abortion law among the states, as a chance for the high court to reconsider the abortion issue and its 1973 decision in Roe vs. Wade that legalized abortion.

The U.S. territory of Guam had banned all abortions except where the mother’s life was threatened. A federal judge Thursday ruled that law unconstitutional.

Huyett ruled against Pennsylvania’s requirements that a woman notify her husband before getting an abortion; wait 24 hours before getting an abortion; and that minors obtain the consent of at least one parent, or a court order, before an abortion.

Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania and five abortion providers had challenged the 1982 law, which was made stricter by amendments in 1988 and 1989.

“Safe, legal abortion continues to be accessible to women in Pennsyvlania because of the court’s decision today,” said Elizabeth Hrenda-Roberts, executive director of Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Affiliates.

“Pennsylvanians would be well-served if the Commonwealth accepts this decision and stops squandering taxpayers’ money to promote government interference in personal matters and threaten women’s lives,” she said.

Robert Gentzel, a spokesman for state Attorney General Ernie Preate Jr., said the ruling would be appealed within 30 days.

“Judge Huyett’s decision is disappointing but not unexpected. It is the attorney general’s duty to defend the constitutionality of state statutes and he intends to pursue all appropriate appeals, including appealing to the United States Supreme Court if necessary,” Gentzel said.

Gentzel called the law “a reasonable, responsible approach to dealing with a very difficult question. The Legislature and governor were fully aware when this statute was enacted and signed that it would face challenges, and that those challenges would take time to resolve.”

In his ruling, Huyett quoted Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun’s warning about eroding abortion rights: “The signs are evident and very ominous, and a chill wind blows.”

The judge said women’s rights are being “subjected to the vicissitudes of the legislative process.”

Most of the disputed parts of the law, amended in 1988 and 1989, had been suspended pending Huyett’s ruling. Some of the sections were rewritten from a 1982 statute, much of which was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986.