The Supreme Court Decision in BARNES v. MOORE:  (The Mississippi Case)
Testing the Limits of the "Undue Burden" Standard 12/92


Barnes v. Moore challenges an anti-choice Mississippi law that places
governmental obstacles in the paths of women seeking to exercise their
right to choose.  The law imposes onerous delays and anti-abortion
counseling under the guise of "informed consent" in an effort to
interfere with a woman's decision to have an abortion.  The case is
particularly significant as the first test of how far the U.S. Supreme
Court will allow anti-choice state politicians to go under the Court's
new "undue burden" test adopted in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern
Pennsylvania v. Casey.

Specifically, the law requires physicians to provide to every woman
seeking an abortion misleading and potentially dangerous information
designed to discourage her from having an abortion.  The woman is then
forced to wait a minimum of 24 hours before she can obtain the
procedure.  The law was enacted on March 28, 1991, when legislators in
Mississippi overrode Governor Mabus' veto.  On August 30, 1991, a
district court granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement
of the law, under the Roe v. Wade "strict scrutiny" standard.

On August 17, 1992, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the fifth Circuit,
relying on Planned Parenthood v. Casey, lifted the preliminary
injunction and dismissed the case, thereby allowing the law to be
enforced and foreclosing any opportunity to have the law enjoined
before taking effect.  In an extremely harmful misapplication of the
"undue burden" standard, the court denied the plaintiffs' requiest to
present evidence that the statute constitutes an "undue burden" on a
woman's right to choose abortion.

In the short time that the law has been in effect, Mississippi's
anti-abortion counseling and 24-hour forced delay provisions have
imposed substantial obstacles on many women.  After the law went into
effect, the number of women obtaining abortions in Mississippi
decreased by more than 50 percent.  The effects of the law have been
exacerbated by the lack of availability of abortion services, the
extreme poverty of many Mississippi women and clinic blockades and
harassment.

	Eighty of Mississippi's 82 counties have no abortion provider.

	Nearly half of all women seeking abortions in Mississippi must
	travel more than 100 miles to reach a clinic.

	Mississippi has the lowest median household income in the
	nation.  The added costs of travel or an overnight stay delay
	abortion for some and are insurmountable for others.

	In response to the forced 24-hour delay, abortion opponents are
	recording patients' license plate numbers, obtaining their
	names and addresses and harassing women and their families at
	their homes.

California Abortion Rights Action League
300 Brannan Street, #501 San
Francisco, CA 94107
USA

415-546-7211
.