ABSTRACT
In Planned Parenthood of South-eastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 US 833, the US Supreme Court limited but did not negate the constitutional right to abortion that it had articulated nearly two decades earlier in Roe v. Wade, 410 US 113. The Casey case, which reached the Court twenty years after Roe, therefore arrived at a time when the justices seemed to be withdrawing from their articulation of reproductive rights. Some of the justices who favored restricting abortion rights were nonetheless concerned about the impact on public opinion if the Court appeared to give in to popular pressure by reversing itself and striking down Roe. Applying that criterion to the Pennsylvania statute, the Court upheld the twenty-four-hour and parental consent provisions but struck down the spousal notification requirement. The four dissenters declared that they would have upheld the Pennsylvania statute in its entirety and that Roe should be overruled.
