Rust v. Sullivan case brief

Rust v. Sullivan case brief summary

500 U.S. 173 (1991)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Petitioner grantees under Title X of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C.S. §§ 300-300a-6, appealed a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit which upheld regulations limiting the ability of Title X fund recipients to engage in abortion-related activities, 42 C.F.R. §§ 59.8-59.10.

CASE FACTS
In two consolidation actions, petitioners, grantees under Title X of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C.S. §§ 300-300a-6, challenged the validity of the Department of Health and Human Services regulations which limited the ability of Title X fund recipients to engage in abortion-related activities, 42 C.F.R. §§ 59.8-59.10. The trial court granted summary judgment for respondent agency secretary, and the appellate court affirmed.

DISCUSSION

• The United States Supreme Court affirmed holding that the regulations were a permissible construction of the underlying legislation and did not violate either U.S. Constitutional, Amendment I or U.S. Constitutional, Amendment V. 
• It said that the Constitution did not require the government to distort the scope of its program in order to provide information about abortion to indigent women where the statute does not encroach on a doctor's ability to provide or a woman's right to receive information concerning abortion-related services outside the Title X project.

CONCLUSION
Decision upholding the health department regulations limiting the ability of Title X fund recipients to engage in abortion-related activities affirmed where the Court held that the regulations were a permissible construction of the underlying legislation and did not violate either the First or Fifth Amendments.

Also see: Abortion legal definition - http://www.lawschoolcasebriefs.net/2014/04/abortion-legal-definition.html

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