Deciphering the Recent Abortion Plurality Decisions: Coe v. Melahn

Abstract

INTRODUCTION|In 1973, the United States Supreme Court announced its decision in Roe v. Wade and established that the fundamental right to privacy encompassed a woman's ability to obtain an abortion. Since that decision, the Court has struggled with the scope of the right it recognized in Roe. At times, the Court has guarded that right closely and applied strict scrutiny to determine the constitutionality of statutes restricting abortion. At other times, the Court has recognized the right as fundamental, but subject to reasonable state interference.|In Coe v. Melahn, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit established that state restrictions on abortion in the Eighth Circuit will be subject to an "undue burden" analysis. The implication for states within the Eighth Circuit is that they may enact statutes that restrict abortion if: (1) the restriction does not pose an absolute obstacle or severe limitation on a woman's decision to have an abortion, and (2) the restriction is rationally related to a legitimate interest of the state. The undue burden analysis thus gives states substantially more latitude in regulating abortion than was permissible under the "trimester" analysis articulated in Roe...