Abortion's Hardest Cases: In the Supreme Court and in Louisiana

Should parents have a say in a teenager's decision to end her pregnancy? Do rape victims have special rights? In the Supreme Court and in Louisiana, the abortion battle lines are redefined

Afterward, when their daughter was buried and their hearts broken, the Bells could see everything clearly. Until then, they had not thought about their teenager's getting pregnant or what they would do if she did. They did not know that there was any such thing as a parental-consent law.

But there is such a law in Indiana, where the Bells live and where their daughter Becky, 17, died after an illegal abortion. In 1984 the state legislature voted to require a minor to get a parent's permission for an abortion or else to convince a judge that she is mature enough...

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