Bigelow v. Com.

Decision Date26 November 1973
Citation214 Va. 341,200 S.E.2d 680
CourtVirginia Supreme Court
PartiesJeffery C. BIGELOW, etc. v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.

John C. Lowe, F. Guthrie Gordon, III, Charlottesville, Va. (Lowe & Gordon, Charlottesville, Va., on brief), for plaintiff in error.

D. Patrick Lacy, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen. (Andrew P. Miller, Atty. Gen., William G. Broaddus, Asst. Atty. Gen., on brief), for defendant in error.

Before SNEAD, C.J. and I'ANSON, CARRICO, HARRISON, COCHRAN, HARMAN and POFF, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

On September 1, 1972, this Court affirmed, by opinion, the conviction of Jeffery C. Bigelow for encouraging or prompting the procuring of abortion by an advertisement in the Virginia Weekly, a newspaper published in Charlottesville, in violation of Code § 18.1--63. 213 Va. 191, 191 S.E.2d 173.

On July 25, 1973, the Clerk of this Court received from the Supreme Court of the United States a copy of an order dated July 23, 1973, entered in the Bigelow case, 413 U.S. 909, 93 S.Ct. 3057, 37 L.Ed.2d 1020, voiding the judgment of this Court and remanding the case 'for further consideration in light of Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (93 S.Ct. 705, 35 L.Ed.2d 147) (1973); and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (93 S.Ct. 739, 35 L.Ed.2d 201) (1973).'

The decision in Roe v. Wade, cited in the order of the Supreme Court, declared unconstitutional Texas statutes which made it a crime to procure, or to attempt to procure, an abortion. Doe v. Bolton declared unconstitutional portions of Georgia statutes making abortion a crime except in certain stated instances. Both decisions were grounded upon the Fourteenth Amendment. Neither mentioned the subject of abortion advertising.

Bigelow's is a First Amendment case. He was convicted not of abortion but for running in his newspaper a commercial advertisement for a commercial abortion agency. We held that government regulation of commercial advertising in the medical-health field was not prohibited by the First Amendment. We find nothing in the new decisions of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton which in any way affects our earlier view. So we again affirm Bigelow's conviction.

Affirmed.

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2 cases
  • 44 600 Bigelow v. Virginia 8212 1309
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • 16 Junio 1975
    ...borders (which Virginia's police powers do not reach) is entitled to little, if any, weight under the circumstances. Pp. 826-828. 214 Va. 341, 200 S.E.2d 680, Melvin L. Wulf, New York City, and Mr. John C. Lowe, Charlottesville, Va., for appellant. D. Patrick Lacy, Jr., Richmond, Va., for a......
  • Jaynes v. Com., Record No. 062388.
    • United States
    • Virginia Supreme Court
    • 29 Febrero 2008
    ...v. Virginia, 413 U.S. 909, 93 S.Ct. 3057, 37 L.Ed.2d 1020 (1973). Upon remand, we again affirmed Bigelow's conviction. Bigelow v. Commonwealth, 214 Va. 341, 342, 200 S.E.2d 680 (1973). The United States Supreme Court, on the second appeal, reversed our judgment. Bigelow v. Virginia, 421 U.S......

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