US Supreme Court sends decision against Indiana parental notification law back to 7th Circuit
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Denise Harle, director of the ADF Center for Life, regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Thursday to vacate the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit’s decision in Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, instructing that court to re-evaluate its ruling (in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization) against an Indiana law ensuring that parents are notified if their minor children seek an abortion:
“The well-being of both babies and young women is more important than the bottom line of abortionists. All this law has sought to do is uphold the duty and desire of parents to protect their own children rather than allow them to be taken advantage of by others. We trust that the 7th Circuit will conclude, now that the Supreme Court has returned policy decisions of this sort to the states, that Indiana’s law ensuring that parents have the opportunity to be involved in their children’s life-changing decisions is legitimate. No one should desire to prevent a pregnant mother from understanding the true implications of an abortion procedure.”
On behalf of Susan B. Anthony List, ADF attorneys filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of Indiana’s law.
- Pronunciation guide: Harle (HAR’-lee)
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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ABOUT Denise Harle
Denise Harle serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where she is the director of the Center for Life. Prior to joining ADF, Harle served as deputy solicitor general in the Office of the Florida Attorney General, where she drafted appellate briefs and presented oral arguments on behalf of the state in a wide variety of constitutional cases, including defending the constitutionality of pro-life laws. In 2017, she participated in the prestigious Supreme Court Fellow program, sponsored by the National Association of Attorneys General. She clerked for Justice Ricky L. Polston on the Florida Supreme Court and worked for several years as an appellate litigator at a large firm in California. Harle earned bachelor’s degrees, summa cum laude, in psychology and interdisciplinary social science from Florida State University, a master’s degree in political science from Stanford University, and a Juris Doctor from Duke University School of Law. At Duke, she served as the executive editor of Law & Contemporary Problems. A member of the state bars of California, Florida, and Georgia, she is admitted to multiple federal district and appellate courts, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court.