Public Health Law Map - Beta 5 - Medical and Public Health Law Site

medically necessary:
On their face, the regulations cannot be read, as petitioners contend, to bar
abortion referral or counseling where a woman’s life is placed in imminent
peril by her pregnancy, since it does not seem that such counseling could be
considered a “method of family planning” under sec. 1008, and since
provisions of the regulations themselves contemplate that a Title X project
could engage in otherwise prohibited abortion- related activities in such
circumstances. [Rust v. Sullivan at 175.]
The Court was careful to distinguish Title X regulations from a more general
prohibition on abortion counseling:
Nor is the doctor–patient relationship established by the Title X program
sufficiently all-encompassing so as to justify an expectation on the part of the
patient of comprehensive medical advice. The program does not provide
postconception medical care, and therefore a doctor’s silence with regard to
abortion cannot reasonably be thought to mislead a client into thinking that
the doctor does not consider abortion an appropriate option for her. The
doctor is always free to make clear that advice regarding abortion is simply
beyond the scope of the program.
These restrictions have been suspended by executive order of the president.
5. Consent to Abortion
In 1992 the Supreme Court affirmed that a woman of adult years and sound mind has
the same exclusive right to consent to an abortion as to any other medical care.
[Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992).] Putative fathers and husbands
have no right to be informed or consulted about the woman’s decision to have an
abortion. The rights of minors are more limited. Although the U.S. Supreme Court
has not allowed states to prevent minors from having abortions, states can require
minors who do not have parental consent for an abortion to seek consent from a court
and to demonstrate that the abortion is in their best interest. It is to be expected that
the Supreme Court will allow further restrictions in the availability of abortions.
Medical care practitioners should keep informed on the current laws in their state of
practice.
Medical care practitioners should counsel their patients about the emotional
consequences of an abortion and their need for social support. If the patient can
discuss the matter with friends or family, that is preferable to keeping the decision to
herself. But medical care practitioners should never abuse their position of trust by
coercing a patient into revealing confidential information or reversing her own
decision. Medical care practitioners who are personally unprepared to counsel their
patients about abortion should refer them to another medical care practitioner or a
counselor trained in reproductive matters.
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