The Supreme Court said Thursday it will not hear a case involving a push to revive a law that minors must have their parents' permission for an abortion in Montana, where voters have enshrined the right to abortion in the state's constitution.
The justices rebuffed an appeal from the Republican-led state seeking to overturn a Montana Supreme Court ruling that struck down the law. The parental consent law passed in 2013 but was blocked in court and never took effect before it was invalidated last year.
Montana state leaders say that decision violated parents' rights.
"The right that Montana seeks to vindicate here - parents' right to know about, and participate in, their child's medical decisions - falls well within the core of parents' fundamental rights," state attorneys argued in court documents.
Two conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, wrote separately to say the high court's denial to take up the case was about its technical legalities rather than rejection of the state's argument.