The case is today's Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. State; the lead opinion is written by Justice Kaye Hearn and joined by Chief Justice Donald Beatty. Justice John Cannon Few concurs in the judgment, and Justices John Kittredge and George James, Jr. dissent.
A few short excerpts, from Justice Hearn's lead opinion:
We hold that our state constitutional right to privacy extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion. The State unquestionably has the authority to limit the right of privacy that protects women from state interference with her decision, but any such limitation must be reasonable and it must be meaningful in that the time frames imposed must afford a woman sufficient time to determine she is pregnant and to take reasonable steps to terminate that pregnancy. Six weeks is, quite simply, not a reasonable period of time for these two things to occur, and therefore the Act violates our state Constitution's prohibition against unreasonable invasions of privacy.
