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Constitutional Law Keyed to Stone
Maher v. Roe
Citation:
432 U.S. 464 (1977)Facts
Connecticut’s Welfare Department issued a regulation limiting Medicaid benefits for first trimester abortions to those deemed “medically necessary,” which included psychiatric necessity. To obtain authorization for a Medicaid-funded abortion, a hospital or clinic had to submit certification from the patient’s attending physician stating the medical necessity of the procedure. Two indigent women, unable to obtain the required certification, challenged the regulation as violating their constitutional rights. The District Court initially held that the Social Security Act required funding of nontherapeutic abortions. On appeal, the Second Circuit held that the Act allowed but did not require such funding. On remand, a three-judge District Court invalidated the regulation on constitutional grounds, finding that it infringed upon a fundamental interest by weighting a pregnant woman’s choice against exercising her constitutionally protected right to an abortion.
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