AP Gov – Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) Cases Practice Test

The framework for evaluating abortion regulations after Casey is the undue burden standard. Planned Parenthood v. Casey reaffirmed a constitutional right to abortion but rejected the old trimester framework, replacing it with a test that asks whether a regulation places a substantial obstacle in a woman’s path to obtaining an abortion before viability. This means states can enact reasonable rules—like waiting periods or mandatory disclosures—so long as those rules do not create an undue burden. The decision preserves the right to choose but allows regulatory flexibility before fetal viability, rather than requiring the more rigid, pre-viability/trimester approach that Roe used. So the correct framework is the undue burden standard, not an outright ban, not an absolute prohibition on regulation, and not the old trimester framework.