"American Life League commends the Supreme Court for rejecting the appellate court ruling that overturned New Hampshire's parental notification law," said Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League. "However, we are disappointed with the high court's decision to return the case to the lower court for further consideration."
In a unanimous vote, the Supreme Court ruled that the appellate court should not have struck down the New Hampshire law.
"Planned Parenthood's attempt to usurp parental authority and endanger children's lives was defeated, which is always good," said Sedlak. "However, the court did not uphold the law in its entirety and therefore residents of New Hampshire are still in danger of having that law, or parts of the law, once again overturned by the lower court. Basically, the Supreme Court only took care of half of the problem."
Sedlak contends that keeping parents in the dark about their children undermines the role of the family in our society. "It is ridiculous to say that an underage girl cannot get her ears pierced at the mall without her parents' approval while the very same child can go to the local Planned Parenthood clinic and kill her preborn baby without her parents' knowledge.
"Parents in this country should stand up and take notice of this ruling and of similar laws in their own states," said Sedlak. "If they want to insure the safety of their children they must do all they can to defeat groups like Planned Parenthood that want to exclude parental involvement from children's lives."
Release issued: 18 Jan 06
