Abortion law overturned

last updated 8 January 2015

Tallahassee, Fla.

The Florida Supreme Court has thrown out a law requiring teenage girls to notify their parents before having an abortion. The justices said the measure, signed in 1999 by Gov. Jeb Bush, violated the right to privacy guaranteed under the state Constitution. Bebe Anderson of the Center for Reproductive Rights called the ruling a “great victory for the young women of this state.” The lone dissenting justice said that the 5-1 ruling made it more difficult for parents to “parent their children.” Gov. Bush, the younger brother of President Bush, agreed. “Put aside all the legal stuff,” Bush said. “It is just hard to imagine we live in a society where parents wouldn’t be notified of an abortion.”