Tallahassee, FL - Florida's parental notification law was upheld in federal court by U.S. District Judge William Stafford. The ruling was a blow to Planned Parenthood and its affiliate abortion clinics.

In 2004, Florida's constitution was amended to overrule a previous decision by the Florida Supreme Court, which struck down Florida's parental notification law. The constitutional amendment provided that the legislature may enact laws that require minors to notify their parents prior to obtaining an abortion. The Florida legislature passed such a law that went into effect on June 30, 2005. Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, along with three abortion clinics and two doctors, filed suit seeking to block the law. Judge Stafford denied the emergency request to block the law. The court has now issued a final ruling in which the opinion states: "Florida has carefully crafted a parental notification statute that serves a compelling state interest." Judge Stafford relied upon the recent Supreme Court decision involving parental notification law in New Hampshire. The court wrote that states have a right to require parental involvement because of their "strong legitimate interest in the welfare" of minors who may lack the maturity, experience or judgment to choose whether to have an abortion.

Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, stated: "This ruling is a victory for parents and children, born and unborn. Planned Parenthood cannot claim that it is interested in the well-being of the family when it seeks to draw an iron curtain between parents and children. In America, we've always had a strong presumption that parents act in the best interest of children. It is hypocritical to require parents to incur the cost of an abortion, while at the same time prohibiting them from having any knowledge of this life and death event."