Hodgson v. State of Minn.

• Decision Date: 06 November 1986
• Docket Number: No. 3-81-538.,3-81-538.
• Citation: 648 F. Supp. 756
• Parties: Jane HODGSON, M.D.; Arthur Horowitz, M.D.; Michelle Roe, Alice Roe, Diana Roe, Nadine T., Janet T., and Ellen Z. individually and on behalf of all other persons similarly situated; Lauren Z.; Meadowbrook Women's Clinic, P.A., Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, a nonprofit Minnesota corporation, Midwest Health Center for Women, P.A., a nonprofit Minnesota corporation; Women's Health Center of Duluth, P.A., a nonprofit Minnesota corporation, Plaintiffs, v. The STATE OF MINNESOTA; Rudy Perpich, as Governor of the State of Minnesota; Hubert H. Humphrey, III, as Attorney General of the State of Minnesota, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota

648 F. Supp. 756

Jane HODGSON, M.D.; Arthur Horowitz, M.D.; Michelle Roe, Alice Roe, Diana Roe, Nadine T., Janet T., and Ellen Z. individually and on behalf of all other persons similarly situated; Lauren Z.; Meadowbrook Women's Clinic, P.A., Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, a nonprofit Minnesota corporation, Midwest Health Center for Women, P.A., a nonprofit Minnesota corporation; Women's Health Center of Duluth, P.A., a nonprofit Minnesota corporation, Plaintiffs, v. The STATE OF MINNESOTA; Rudy Perpich, as Governor of the State of Minnesota; Hubert H. Humphrey, III, as Attorney General of the State of Minnesota, Defendants.

No. 3-81-538.

United States District Court, D. Minnesota, Third Division.

November 6, 1986.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

American Civil Liberties Union Foundation by Janet Benshoof, Rachel Pine and Suzanne Lynn, New York City, for plaintiffs.

Maslon, Edelman, Borman & Brand by William Pentelovitch, Minneapolis, Minn., for plaintiff Planned Parenthood of Minnesota.

Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Atty. Gen. of the State of Minn. by John Galus and Peter M. Ackerberg, Sp. Asst. Attys. Gen., St. Paul, Minn., for defendants.

FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND ORDER

ALSOP, Chief Judge.

The above-entitled matter came before the court for trial from February 10, 1986, until March 13, 1986, and for argument on June 11, 1986. Having considered the evidence and being fully advised in the premises, the court makes the following:

FINDINGS OF FACT

I. Introduction

1. Plaintiffs Jane Hodgson, M.D., and Arthur Horowitz, M.D., are licensed physicians engaged in the practice of obstetrics and gynecology, including the performing of abortions, in Minnesota.

2. Plaintiff Meadowbrook Women's Clinic, P.A., provides birth control, abortions and related medical services to its patients, including unemancipated minor women under the age of 18 at a medical facility located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

3. Plaintiff Planned Parenthood of Minnesota provides birth control, abortions and related medical services to its patients, including unemancipated minor women under the age of 18, at a clinic located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

4. Plaintiff Midwest Health Center for Women provides birth control services, abortions, and related medical services to its patients, including unemancipated minor women under the age of 18, at a clinic located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

5. Plaintiff Women's Health Center of Duluth, P.A., provides birth control services, abortions, and related medical services to its patients, including unemancipated minor women under the age of 18, at a clinic located in Duluth, Minnesota.

6. Plaintiff Alice Roe was a 16-year-old unemancipated minor and seven weeks pregnant at the commencement of this action. Alice Roe asserts that she was at that time mature and that notification of her parents of her desire to have an abortion would not have been in her best interests.

7. Plaintiff Michelle Roe was a 15-year-old unemancipated minor who was pregnant at the commencement of this action. Michelle Roe asserts that she was at that time mature and that notification of her parents of her desire to have an abortion would not have been in her best interests.

8. Diane Roe was a 16-year-old unemancipated minor and eight weeks pregnant at the commencement of this action. Diane Roe asserts that she was at that time mature and that notification of her parents of her desire to have an abortion would not have been in her best interests.

9. Plaintiff Nadine T. was a 16-year-old unemancipated minor and pregnant as of the time of the filing of the amended complaint in this action. Nadine T. asserts that she was at that time mature and that notification of her parents of her desire to have an abortion would not have been in her best interests.

10. Plaintiff Janet T. was a 16-year-old unemancipated minor and pregnant as of the time of the filing of the amended complaint in this action. Janet T. asserts that she was at that time mature and that notification of her father of her desire to have an abortion would have not been in her best interests.

11. Ellen Z. was a 17-year-old unemancipated minor and pregnant as of the time of the filing of the amended complaint in this action. Ellen Z. asserts that she was then mature and that notification of her father of her desire to have an abortion would not have been in her best interests.

12. Plaintiffs Alice Roe, Michelle Roe, Diane Roe, Nadine T., Janet T., and Ellen Z. represent a class composed of pregnant minors who assert that they are mature and that notification of one or both of their parents would not be in their best interests.

13. Lauren Z. is the mother of plaintiff Ellen Z. Lauren Z. asserts that notification of Ellen Z.'s father of Ellen Z's desire to have an abortion would not have been in Ellen Z.'s best interests.

14. Defendants are the State of Minnesota, its Governor and its Attorney General.

15. In 1981, the Legislature of the State of Minnesota enacted Minn.Laws 1981, ch. 228, codified as Minn.Stat. § 144.343(2)-(7). The statute was to become effective August 1, 1981.

16. Subdivision 2 of the statute generally requires physicians or their agents to attempt with reasonable diligence to notify the parents of an unemancipated minor under the age of 18 at least 48 hours before performing an abortion. Subdivision 3 defines "parent" as both parents if both are living, one parent if only one is living or if the second one cannot be located through reasonably diligent effort, or the guardian or conservator if the pregnant woman has one. Subdivision 4 of the statute provides that the statutory notice requirement does not apply when the parents have consented to the abortion, when prompt action is needed to preserve the life of the minor, or when the minor reports that she is a victim of sexual or physical abuse or neglect as defined in Minn.Stat. § 626.556. Subdivision 5 subjects anyone performing an abortion in violation of Minn.Stat. § 144.343(2)-(7) to criminal penalties and civil liability.

17. Subdivision 6 of the statute provides, in the alternative, that if subdivision 2 is ever enjoined by judicial order, then the same notice requirement shall be effective together with an optional procedure whereby an unemancipated minor may obtain a court order permitting an abortion without notice to her parents upon a showing that she is mature and capable of giving informed consent to an abortion or, if she is not mature, that an abortion without notice to her parents nevertheless would be in her best interests.

18. In their amended complaints, plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that Minn.Stat. § 144.343(2)-(7) violates the constitutions of the United States and the State of Minnesota and seek a permanent injunction against its enforcement. More particularly, plaintiffs claim that the statute violates their due process rights, both on its face and as applied; that the statute violates the equal protection clause; and that the statute violates the due process, privacy and equal protection provisions of Article I of the Minnesota Constitution and also constitutes the delegation of administrative power to Minnesota state courts in violation of article 3 of the Minnesota Constitution.

19. Before the statute took effect on August 1, 1981, plaintiffs sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the statute.

20. On July 31, 1981, the court temporarily restrained enforcement of subdivision 2 of the statute, but denied plaintiffs' motion for an order temporarily restraining enforcement of subdivision 6. On March 22, 1982, the court preliminarily enjoined subdivision 2 but denied a preliminary injunction of subdivision 6. By virtue of these two rulings, the parental notification requirement and the judicial bypass option of subdivision 6 went into effect on August 1, 1981, and have remained in effect since that date.

21. By memorandum order of January 23, 1985, the court granted in part and denied in part defendants' motion for partial summary judgment as to all of plaintiffs' claims concerning the judicial bypass procedure of subdivision 6. Specifically, the court granted partial summary judgment for defendants by dismissing all of plaintiffs' state constitutional claims on jurisdictional grounds and by ruling that, on its face, the judicial bypass procedure in subdivision 6 does not violate the constitutional equal protection and due process rights of pregnant minors. The court concluded, however that plaintiffs should have the opportunity of a trial to prove their allegations that subdivision 6 is being applied unconstitutionally.

II. Availability of Abortion Services in the State of Minnesota

22. Abortion services are less accessible in Minnesota than in the country as a whole. In Minnesota, 94% of the counties, or 82 out of 87 counties, have no readily available abortion provider. In 1982, 44% of women in Minnesota ages 15-44 lived in a county with an abortion provider as compared to 72% of the same group in the country as a whole.

23. Access to information about abortion services in out-state Minnesota is comparatively limited. Many second trimester patients come from counties with no abortion providers and thus with no media advertising or listing in telephone books for abortion services.

24. Abortions are performed in only four public and nine private hospitals in Minnesota, and then only if a staff doctor requests it. There are only two hospitals where a patient can walk in and obtain an abortion: Hennepin County Medical Center and St. Paul-Ramsey. Virtually all of Minnesota's abortion providers are located in the two major metropolitan areas of the state: Duluth and Minneapolis-St.Paul. Many women have to travel long distances to obtain abortion services.

25. The transportation problems facing women seeking abortion in Minnesota are illustrated by the experiences of those attending the Women's Health Center...