Spousal Consent
Provisions of the Florida Therapeutic Abortion Act, whichrequired a married woman to obtain the husband’s consent beforeabortion, were found to be unconstitutional. The state’s interestwas found not to be sufficiently compelling to limit a woman’sright to abortion. The husband’s interest in the baby was held tobe insufficient to force his wife to face the mental and physicalrisks of pregnancy and childbirth.43 In Doe v. Zimmerman (1975),44the court declared unconstitutional the provisions of thePennsylvania Abortion Control Act, which required that the writtenconsent of the husband of a married woman be secured beforeperforming an abortion. The court found that these provisionsimpermissibly permitted the husband to withhold his consent eitherbecause of his interest in the potential life of the fetus or forcapricious reasons. The natural father of an unborn fetus in Doe v.Smith (1988)45 was not entitled to an injunction to prevent themother from submitting to an abortion. Although the father’sinterest in the fetus was legitimate, it did not outweigh themother’s constitutionally protected right to an abortion,particularly in light of evidence that the mother and father hadnever married. In the 1992 decision of Planned Parenthood v. Casey,the Supreme Court ruled that spousal consent would be an undueburden on the woman.
Incompetent Persons’ Consent
Abortion was found to be proper by a family court in In re Doe(1987)46 for a profoundly retarded woman. She had become pregnantduring her residence in a group home as a result of a sexual attackby an unknown person. The record had supported a finding that ifthe woman had been able to do so she would have requested theabortion. The court properly chose welfare agencies and the woman’sguardian ad litem (a guardian appointed to prosecute or defend asuit on behalf of a party incapacitated by infancy, mentalincompetence, etc.) as the surrogate decision makers.
The Court Was Appalled, Tomcik v. Ohio Dep’t ofRehabilitation and Correction.
In 500 words explain the following
1. Do you agree with the court’s decision? Discuss youranswer
2. Discuss why the court was appalled
3. What ethical values were lacking by thecaregivers?
