New Hampshire Senate Votes to Repeal Parental Notification Law

Last week, the New Hampshire Senate voted to repeal the state’s parental notification law by a 15 to 9 vote. The law, which would have required doctors to notify parents at least 48 hours before a minor obtains an abortion, was defeated in the House in March. Governor John Lynch has said he will sign the bill, making New Hampshire the first state to repeal a parental notification law.

The law was passed in 2003, but never took effect due to legal challenges reaching all the way to the Supreme Court in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. In January 2006, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court to determine if the state legislature would have passed the law with a health exception.

>Learn more about how parental involvement laws affect women.