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REUTERS
SEATTLE
AN ALASKA law requiring doctors to notify the parents of girls under the age of 18 seeking an abortion violates the state's constitution and cannot be enforced, the state's top court ruled on Friday.
The 4-1 decision marks a long-awaited victory for Planned Parenthood and other abortion-rights advocates in Alaska who argued the 2010 law violates the privacy of pregnant teens.
It also comes on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down a Texas abortion law imposing strict regulations on doctors and facilities in the strongest endorsement of abortion rights in America in more than two decades.
A woman's right to abortion was established in the court's landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, but several states have tried to restrict access to abortion through their own laws.
In Alaska, Planned Parenthood and doctors argued that the notification law was particularly threatening to vulnerable teens who live in abusive homes.
