United States v. Vuitch

Infobox SCOTUS case
Litigants = United States v. Vuitch
ArgueDate = January 12
ArgueYear = 1971
DecideDate = April 21
DecideYear = 1971
FullName = United States v. Vuitch
USVol = 402
USPage = 62
Citation =
Prior =
Subsequent =
Holding = The abortion statute of the district of Columbia, banning abortion except when necessary for the health or life of the mother, is not unconstitutionally vague.
SCOTUS = 1970-1971
Majority = Black
JoinMajority = Burger, Douglas, Stewart, White (jurisdiction)
JoinMajority2 = Burger, Harlan, White, Blackmun (merits)
Concurrence = White
Dissent = Douglas
Dissent2 = Harlan
JoinDissent2 = Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun
Dissent3 = Stewart
Dissent4 = Blackmun
LawsApplied =

"United States v. Vuitch", 402 U.S. 62 (1971) was a United States Supreme Court abortion rights case, which held that the District of Columbia's abortion law banning the practice except when necessary for the health or life of the mother was not unconstitutionally vague.

Background

Milan Vuitch, an abortion provider in the District of Columbia, had several times come under suit for providing abortions services that the government deemed not necessary for the life or health of the mother, in accordance with the DC law. Vuitch challenged the law as being unconstitutionally vague with regard to the term "health." Federal District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell agreed, dismissing Vuitch's indictment and ruling that the law failed to give the sufficient certainty required by due process of law in criminal matters. [Greenhouse, Linda. Becoming Justice Blackmun. Times Books. 2005. Page 75.]

Gesell's finding was the first federal court decision declaring an abortion law unconstitutional. [Greenhouse, Linda. Becoming Justice Blackmun. Times Books. 2005. Page 75.]

Decision

There were two questions before the court: 1. Whether they had jurisdiction to decide the case, and 2. Whether the DC law was unconstitutionally vague. On the first question, Justice Black, joined by Burger, Douglas, Stewart, and Byron White, held that they could. On the second question, Harlan and Blackmun, although dissenting in jurisdiction, joined Black on the merits, while Douglas and Stewart joined Brennan and Marshall in dissent.

On the merits, Black held that "health" was not vague, since lower courts had construed it fairly concretely to mean physical as well as psychological health. Although this was the final (as well as the first) abortion case prior to Roe, only Justice Douglas, writing in dissent, suggested the existence of a general right to abortion as part of a broader right to privacy. This view would be embraced by seven Justices in Roe two years later.

ignificance

Vuitch lost in the sense that the statute was ruled not "vague;" the district court's decision was overturned and Vuitch could be prosecuted. [Greenhouse, Linda. Becoming Justice Blackmun. Times Books. 2005. Page 77.] However, the decision treated abortion as a surgical option not fundamentally different from any other, and the Court seemed to care most about sufficient leeway being given to a doctor's professional judgment. [Greenhouse, Linda. Becoming Justice Blackmun. Times Books. 2005. Page 78.]

The justices voted to hear "Roe v. Wade" and "Doe v. Bolton", another abortion case, the day after "Vuitch"'s opinion was announced. [Greenhouse, Linda. Becoming Justice Blackmun. Times Books. 2005. Page 78.]

ee also

* List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 402
* Roe v. Wade, decided just two terms after Vuitch

External links

* [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=450&page=398 Full text opinion from Findlaw.com]

References