Bellotti v. Baird (1979)

Bellotti v. Baird
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 27, 1979 Decided July 2, 1979
Full case name	Bellotti, Attorney General of Massachusetts, et al. v. Baird, et al.
Citations	443 U.S. 622 (more) 99 S. Ct. 3035; 61 L. Ed. 2d 797; 1979 U.S. LEXIS 17
Prior history	450 F.Supp. 997, affirmed.
Holding
States may require parental notification before a minor may obtain an abortion, but must provide an alternative procedure to parental approval.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan, Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell, Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Majority	Powell, joined by Burger, Stewart, Rehnquist
Concurrence	Rehnquist
Concurrence	Stevens (in judgment only), joined by Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun
Dissent	White
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XIV

Bellotti v. Baird, 443 U.S. 622 (1979) is a United States Supreme Court case that ruled that teenagers do not have to secure parental consent to obtain an abortion.

The Court, 8-1, elaborates on its parental consent decision of 1976. It implies that states may be able to require a pregnant, unmarried minor to obtain parental consent to an abortion so long as the state law provides an alternative procedure to parental approval, such as letting the minor seek a state judge's approval instead. This plurality opinion declined to fully extend the right to seek and obtain an abortion, granted to adult women in Roe v. Wade, to minors. The Court rejected this extension to minors by placing emphasis on the especially vulnerable nature of children, their "inability to make critical decisions in an informed and mature manner; and the importance of the parental role in child rearing."

See also

• Bellotti v. Baird (1976)
• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 443

External links

• Text of Bellotti v. Baird, 443 U.S. 622 (1979) is available from:  Findlaw  Justia