Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 510 U.S. 1309, 5 (1994)

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Cite as: 510 U. S. 1309 (1994)

Opinion in Chambers

we undertook to apply the standard to the Pennsylvania statute, upholding the constitutionality of its core provisions governing informed consent, recordkeeping, and parental consent, while ruling that the husband-notification requirement, on its face, imposed a constitutionally intolerable burden on the freedom of women to choose abortion. 505 U. S., at 887-898. Significantly, none of the five opinions took the position that the record was inadequate in a way that would counsel leaving those judgments to the District Court in the first instance. Cf., e. g., McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U. S. 467, 506, 523-528 (1991) (Marshall, J., dissenting). Thus, the references to "this record," combined with our readiness to decide the validity of the challenged provisions under the "undue burden" standard, are plausibly understood as reflecting two conclusions: (1) that litigants are free to challenge similar restrictions in other jurisdictions, as well as these very provisions as applied, see Fargo Women's Health Organization v. Schafer, 507 U. S. 1013 (1993) (O'Connor, J., concurring in denial of stay); and (2) that applicants had been given a fair opportunity to develop the record in the District Court.

Indeed, the District Court's error in rejecting the latter conclusion deserves a word of comment. The District Court reasoned that because our opinion in Casey altered the "rules of the game," it would be unjust to dispose of an "undue burden" challenge on the basis of a record developed for purposes of a challenge based on "strict scrutiny." See 822 F. Supp., at 235-236. But even if this reasoning were not in tension with the approach ultimately taken in the Casey opinion, the applicants do not seriously suggest that the vitality of the "strict scrutiny" test was free from uncertainty at the time this case was brought in the District Court or that they lacked incentive to compile a record to support the invalidation of the challenged provisions under a less strict standard of review. The original District Court opinion, 686 F. Supp. 1089 (ED Pa. 1988), contains 287 detailed findings

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