New Hampshire Gov. endorses bill to repeal State's parental notification law

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) would sign a bill (HB 184) meant to repeal a state law (HB 763) that requires physicians in the state to notify by certified letter a parent or guardian of a minor who is seeking an abortion at least 48 hours before performing the procedure, Lynch spokesperson Colin Manning said on Thursday, the Manchester Union Leader reports (Fahey, Manchester Union Leader, 2/8).

The law also bars parents from forbidding the procedure, and the notification requirement could be bypassed by a judge if a doctor determines that the minor's life is in danger.

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England; the American Civil Liberties Union; the Concord Feminist Health Center; the Feminist Health Center of Portsmouth, N.H.; and Manchester, N.H.-based ob-gyn Wayne Goldner in November 2003 filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law.

U.S. District Judge Joseph DiClerico and the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently struck down the entire law.

New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte (R) appealed the lower courts' ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying that the judicial bypass clause in the measure, combined with other state laws that allow doctors to act in an emergency, protect a woman's health.

The Supreme Court in January 2006 unanimously ruled that the lower courts should not have invalidated the entire measure and ordered lower courts to review the legislative intent regarding exceptions to the law for medical emergencies (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 1/3).

DiClerico on Feb. 1 said he will continue to block enforcement of the law while the Legislature considers legislation that would repeal it.

According to the Union Leader, if the repeal passes, the case is moot; however, if it does not, then the case will continue.

If the law is amended, "then the legal landscape of this case may well change," DiClerico wrote (Manchester Union Leader, 2/8).

The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday listened to testimony on the legislation to repeal the law, the AP/Boston Globe reports.

Rep. Fran Wendelboe (R) offered a measure that would amend the law to include a health exception in cases of emergency and require judicial bypass availability at all times.

Manning said Lynch had not reviewed Wendelboe's amendment (Love, AP/Boston Globe, 2/8).