The US Supreme Court stepped into some contentious waters March 2 when it heard oral arguments on abortion for the first time in nearly a decade and almost 25 years since it issued a major ruling on abortion.
But even though some time has gone by, the court’s 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey had a front- row seat during the recent arguments about state requirements on Texas abortion clinics as the “undue burden” test raised in that Casey decision was frequently mentioned in this go-round.
The Casey ruling also may have played a part in questions posed by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the only remaining member of the court that helped write that opinion. And what Kennedy asked or didn’t ask March 2 is being parsed by legal analysts and court watchers alike since he will likely be the deciding vote in the Texas case.
In its previous abortion case in 2007, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to uphold the federal ban on partial-birth abortion, signed into law in 2003 by President George W. Bush. The law had withstood several court challenges on constitutional grounds before it was upheld.
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