Kathryn Kolbert Planned Parenthood v. Casey Records

Born in 1952, Kathryn (Kitty) Kolbert, is a lawyer and educator. Previously the Constance Hess Williams Director of Barnard College’s Athena Center for Leadership Studies, Kolbert has been a public interest lawyer specializing in reproductive rights since obtaining her Juris Doctor from Temple University in 1977. From 1977 through 1979, Kolbert was an attorney with Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. Following that, she served as an attorney at the Women’s Law Project, from 1979-1988. During this time Kolbert co-founded and acted as the Policy Director for Women’s Agenda in Philadelphia. She has also served as the former President of the People for the American Way, as the State Coordinating Counsel of the American Civil Liberty Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project, and as a Co-Founder and Vice President of the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy.

Between 1988 and 1989, the Pennsylvania legislature amended its Abortion Control Act, authored by Stephen F. Friend in 1982. The new provisions required a twenty-four hour waiting period and informed consent prior to the procedure. Minors seeking an abortion would necessitate the consent of at least one guardian and married individuals would be required to notify spouses. In 1992, Kolbert argued Planned Parenthood v. Casey 505 U.S. 833 (1992) before the United States Supreme Court. The case challenged the constitutionality of these abortion regulations in Pennsylvania. In a decision written by Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy, and David Souter, the Supreme Court upheld the provisions of twenty-four hour waiting periods and informed consent for minors, but struck down the provision for spousal consent. Ultimately, the ruling reaffirmed Roe v. Wade, prohibiting states from disallowing abortions, but it overruled the Roe decision’s legal distinction of the trimester and the use of strict scrutiny for juridical review of government regulation of abortions.