Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1323_c07d.pdf
Page Number: 53

8 

JUNE MEDICAL SERVICES L. L. C. v. RUSSO 

ROBERTS, C. J., concurring
ROBERTS, C. J., concurring in judgment 

cedure.”  Id., at 899 (citing, among other cases, Ohio v. Ak-
ron Center for Reproductive Health, 497 U. S. 502, 510–519 
(1990)).  Casey relied on precedent establishing that judicial 
bypass procedures “prevent another person from having an
absolute veto power over a minor’s decision to have an abor-
tion.”  Akron, 497 U. S., at 510.  Without a judicial bypass, 
parental consent laws impose a substantial obstacle to a mi-
nor’s ability to obtain an abortion and therefore constitute 
an undue burden.  See Casey, 505 U. S., at 899 (joint opin-
ion).

The opinion similarly looked to whether there was a sub-
stantial burden, not whether benefits outweighed burdens,
in  analyzing  Pennsylvania’s  requirement  that  physicians 
provide  certain  “truthful,  nonmisleading  information” 
about the nature of the abortion procedure.  Id., at 882.  The 
opinion concluded that the requirement “cannot be consid-
ered a substantial obstacle to obtaining an abortion, and, it 
follows, there is no undue burden.”  Id., at 883 (emphasis 
added).

With regard to the State’s requirement that a physician,
as opposed to a qualified assistant, provide the woman this
information,  the  opinion  reasoned:  “Since  there  is  no  evi-
dence on this record that requiring a doctor to give the in-
formation as provided by the statute would amount in prac-
tical terms to a substantial obstacle to a woman seeking an 
abortion, we conclude that it is not an undue burden.”  Id., 
at 884–885 (emphasis added).  This was so “even if an ob-
jective  assessment  might  suggest  that  those  same  tasks 
could be performed by others,” meaning the law had little if 
any benefit.  Id., at 885. 

The  only  restriction  Casey  found  unconstitutional  was 
Pennsylvania’s spousal notification requirement.  On that 
score,  the  Court  recited  a  bevy  of  social  science  evidence
demonstrating that “millions of women in this country . . . 
may have justifiable fears of physical abuse” or “devastat-
ing forms of psychological abuse from their husbands.”  Id.,