State of Alaska and the Commissioner of the Department of Health & Social Services, Appellants v. Planned…

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed the superior court's judgment invalidating a statute and regulation that restricted Medicaid funding for abortions. The court construed both measures as imposing a high-risk, high-hazard standard unlike the standard governing childbirth and other pregnancy-related care, held that the resulting classification burdened the fundamental right of reproductive choice and required strict scrutiny, and concluded that the State's asserted fiscal interests were neither compellingly advanced nor narrowly served. Chief Justice Stowers, dissenting, would have applied constitutional avoidance to adopt the State's broader interpretation and uphold the measures.