The State Supreme Court has heard oral arguments over an abortion law, passed by the Legislature in 2003, requiring at least 24 hours’ notice before an abortion can be performed. Mimi Liu, representing the plaintiff – Planned Parenthood – says there are two major concerns with the state law: the waiting period and the vagueness of the rules covering physicians. In its challenge, Planned Parenthood is focusing primarily on the vagueness claim. Assistant Attorney General Vickie Mahon argues the U.S. Supreme Court has already upheld other states’ requirements that a woman awaiting an abortion be advised by the doctor as to the information she needs to make the proper decision. The informed consent statute is one of a number of abortion-related laws approved by the General Assembly in recent years and currently before the courts.
