WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Supreme Court said Thursday it will not hear a case involving a push to revive a law that minors must have their parents\u2019 permission for an abortion in Montana, where voters have enshrined the right to abortion in the state\u2019s constitution. <\/p>\n
The justices rebuffed an appeal from the Republican-led state seeking to overturn a Montana Supreme Court ruling<\/a> that struck down the law. The parental consent law passed in 2013 but was blocked in court and never took effect before it was invalidated last year.<\/p>\n Montana state leaders say that decision violated parents\u2019 rights. <\/p>\n \u201cThe right that Montana seeks to vindicate here \u2014 parents\u2019 right to know about, and participate in, their child\u2019s medical decisions \u2014 falls well within the core of parents\u2019 fundamental rights,\u201d state attorneys argued in court documents.<\/p>\n Two conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, wrote separately to say the high court\u2019s denial to take up the case was about its technical legalities rather than rejection of the state\u2019s argument. <\/p>\n Planned Parenthood argued that the Montana Supreme Court decision balanced the rights of parents and of minors in a state that has protected the right to abortion. Montana\u2019s highest recognized<\/a> a right to abortion before the Supreme Court overturned it nationwide, and voters also enshrined<\/a> it in the Montana Constitution last year.<\/p>\n \u201cPetitioners seek to use the parental right as a cudgel against a minor\u2019s rights,\u201d the group wrote. \u201cThe broader interests of the child must be accounted for along with parental rights.\u201d<\/p>\n The law would require notarized, written consent for people younger than 18 to get an abortion. It would also allow minors to petition judges for permission, a process known as judicial bypass. Montana also has another law in place requiring parents be notified of minors\u2019 abortions.<\/p>\n