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Article: State abortion counseling policies and the fundamental principles of informed consent.
- Article from:
- Guttmacher Policy Review
- Article date:
- September 22, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 The Alan Guttmacher Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Before the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Gonzales v. Carhart this spring, many expected that the justices would limit their discussion to the constitutionality of the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, specifically in light of the law's lack of an exception for cases in which the procedure may be medically necessary to protect the pregnant woman's health. But that was by no means all that the Court proffered.
However indirectly, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's majority opinion also moved the Court--and likely the future of the abortion debate in the states--to the very heart of the issue of informed consent. Replete with paternalistic and ...