1976- Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth

About a year post-Roe v. Wade, Missouri passed a law, specifically, House Bill 1211, which “regulated abortions within the state” (“Planned”). Two doctors from Planned Parenthood of Missouri challenged multiple provisions within the bill. They disputed those provisions concerning the “viability” of the fetus, a consent form, as well as the consent of a woman’s spouse within 12 weeks, and parental consent in the case of minors. Further, the doctors from planned parenthood challenged the requirement of physicians to take professional care with preserving a fetus’s life to avoid charges of manslaughter and the prohibition of saline amniocenteses after 12 weeks. In addition, the declaring of an infant who survived the abortion a ward of the state and the removal of all parental rights was also upheld and weighed. Finally, they challenged the provisions requiring abortion facilities to keep records of who receive abortions and doctors who perform these abortions, which amounted to the ultimate ruling regarding the unconstitutionality of this bill. The provisions within this bill that were deemed constitutional were those related to the “viability” of the fetus, the need for a consent form for women to prove they were not forced, and the requirement of record keeping for abortion facilities. The provisions of a spousal consent form, as well as parental consent for minors, were proclaimed “unconstitutional because the state cannot delegate the authority to prevent an abortion to anyone but the physician and the woman during the first trimester of pregnancy” (“Planned”). Prior to this case, physicians could be charged with manslaughter if courts proved that the doctor had not taken extra caution in trying to preserve the life of the fetus during any stage of pregnancy. With this case, the charge of manslaughter for this failure to protect the fetus was deemed unconstitutional. The provision regarding saline amniocenteses was designed to prohibit most abortions after 12 weeks and also is not geared towards women’s health, which is unconstitutional because it failed to regulate in reference to the mother’s health and instead was designed to prohibit most abortions after 12 weeks ("Planned"). “The Court refused to consider provision 6” (“Planned”), which was that if an infant survived an abortion, they would be a ward of the state, and the physician would have to notify the juvenile court if there were any live-born infants. This provision is a violation of the due process through the privacy and circumstances circulating live birth during an attempted abortion. (“Planned”).