Abortion Ruling Could Be O'Connor's Last

Jan. 18, 2006 — -- If the confirmation vote on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito goes as scheduled, today's unanimous ruling that a lower court was wrong to strike down New Hampshire's abortion restrictions could be Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's last.

O'Connor helped pen today's ruling, which said a lower court had gone too far by permanently blocking the law that requires that a parent be told before a daughter ends her pregnancy.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on Alito's Supreme Court nomination on Tuesday. If confirmed, Alito, 55, a federal appeals court judge since 1990, would replace O'Connor, who has often been the swing vote on the nine-member Court on abortion, civil rights and other social issues.

If Alito is confirmed, as expected, today's would likely be O'Connor's last decision. It also likely marks the last time she will hear oral arguments. The next round of oral arguments before the Supreme Court is scheduled for Feb. 21.

In today's decision, O'Connor ruled that the lower courts were wrong to invalidate an entire parental-notification statute. She helped send the case back to the lower court so that it could reconsider the part of the law that makes no exception for the health of the mother.

"In some very small percentage of cases, pregnant minors, like adult women, need immediate abortions to avert serious and often irreversible damage to their health," she wrote.

A lower appeals court must now reconsider the law, which requires that a parent be informed 48 hours before a minor has an abortion but makes no exception for a medical emergency.

Alito's record on issues such as civil rights and reproductive rights have troubled some liberal groups. During his confirmation hearing last week, he said he would keep an "open mind" on the issue of abortion.