The Supreme Court on Thursday declined a petition from Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen seeking a revival of a state law that would require parental approval for minors seeking to obtain an abortion.
Under Montana's 2013 law, a doctor was prohibited from providing an abortion to a patient under 18 without notarized consent from the parent. In 2024, the Montana Supreme Court ruled that law violated the state's constitutional right to privacy, holding that "a minor's right to control her reproductive decisions is among the most fundamental of the rights she possesses."
Knudsen urged the high court to intervene, arguing that the state's ruling incorrectly placed state-level rights of minors over federal constitutional protection afforded to parents.
"Any parental right that exists within this framework," the court added, "is a right to parent free from state interference, not a right to enlist the state's powers to gain greater control over a child or to make it more difficult for a minor to exercise their fundamental rights."
Although the high court denied the petition, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas released a statement clarifying that the refusal was a matter of procedure, not of the merits of the particular case.
"Because of the way this case was litigated below, it provides a poor vehicle for deciding that question," Alito wrote.
Alito noted the state had not clearly argued in lower courts that the Montana Supreme Court's decision conflicted with federal parental rights. However, he warned, the court's denial should "not be read … as a rejection of the argument that the petition asks us to decide."
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.