Hare Krishna, abortion addressed by court

Christian Century, March 10, 1999

The Supreme Court acted on two religion and ethics cases February 22, limiting Hare Krishna solicitations in one and, in the other, upholding Virginia's parental notification law for minors seeking abortions.

In the Hare Krishna case, the justices, without comment, rejected an appeal of a lower court ruling upholding restrictions on the group's soliciting donations and selling religious literature at the Miami International Airport. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness had argued that such restrictions violated their free speech rights.

The ruling was not a decision and sets no national precedent but does let stand a ruling that applies to all airports in three southern states--Florida, Alabama and Georgia. In 1992 the Supreme Court had ruled that airports nationwide may bar groups from soliciting donations in terminals but must allow distribution of free literature. The appeal rejected by the court asked it to review the 1992 decision in the wake of the increasing commercialization of airport terminals since that ruling.

In the second action, the justices, also without comment, left intact Virginia's law requiring doctors to notify a young gifts parents before performing the abortion she seeks. The justices turned away arguments that the law wrongly denies most mature girls under 18 the right to an abortion without parental involvement. Again, the action was not a decision and does not preclude the possibility that the court may review the Virginia law, or one similar to it, in the future.