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Network for Public Health Law
Reproductive Liberties and Care Access

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. South Carolina

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Overview

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. South Carolina (S.C., Jan. 5, 2023): The South Carolina Supreme Court held that the state’s abortion ban unconstitutionally infringed the right to privacy guaranteed by the South Carolina Constitution. The ban prohibited abortions after six weeks gestation, which the court recognized “severely limits—and in many instances completely forecloses—abortion . . . .” The court found the state constitution’s provision guaranteeing citizens’ rights against “unreasonable invasions of privacy” was not limited to searches and seizures. Instead, the court determined “that the decision to terminate a pregnancy rests upon the utmost personal and private considerations imaginable,” thus implicating the constitutional right to privacy. Read the full decision here. Notably, on the same day, the Idaho Supreme Court came to the opposite conclusion, finding that the Idaho Constitution does not recognize a fundamental right to abortion. Read the Idaho decision here.

View all cases in the Judicial Trends in Public Health – February 15, 2023.

View all cases under “Public Health Information Management, Privacy & Security.”