Beal v. Doe - Significance, Title Xix, Medicaid, And Pennsylvania, A Question Of Statutory Construction, Dissent: Forcing Poor Women To Have Children
petitioner abortions therapeutic court
Petitioner
Beal, Secretary, Department of Public Welfare of Pennsylvania, et al.
Respondent
"Jane Doe"
Petitioner's Claim
That Title XIX of the Social Security Act, a statute governing the federal Medicaid program, did not require states participating in that program to provide financial assistance for non-therapeutic abortions--i.e., abortions that are not deemed medically necessary.
Chief Lawyer for Petitioner
Norman J. Watkins
Chief Lawyer for Respondent
Judd F. Crosby
Justices for the Court
Warren E. Burger, Lewis F. Powell, Jr. (writing for the Court), William H. Rehnquist, John Paul Stevens, Potter Stewart, Byron R. White
Justices Dissenting
Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall
Place
Washington, D.C.
Date of Decision
20 June 1977
Decision
That Title XIX neither required states to fund non-therapeutic abortions nor prevented them from doing so.
Related Cases
- Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).
- Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973).
- Bellotti v. Baird, 428 U.S. 132 (1976).
- Maher v. Roe, 432 U.S. 464 (1977).
- Poelker v. Doe, 432 U.S. 519 (1977).
- Harris v. McRae, 448 U.S. 297 (1980).
- Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, 462 U.S. 416 (1983).
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