In the case of Martin D. Lambert, Gallatin County Attorney v. Susan Wicklund et al., 1996, the U.S Supreme Court dealt with a Montana law that required physicians to notify parents before performing an abortion on a minor. The court ruled in favor of Dr. Susan Wicklund and other plaintiffs who challenged this law as unconstitutional under Roe v Wade's right to privacy doctrine which includes a woman's decision whether or not to have an abortion without undue interference from the state. The court found that while states can regulate abortions and require parental involvement in minors' decisions about them, they cannot impose an "undue burden" on women seeking abortions - defined as having "the purpose or effect of placing substantial obstacles in the path of a woman seeking an abortion." In this case, it was determined that requiring doctors rather than patients themselves to provide notification imposed such burdens by potentially delaying access to medical care and violating patient confidentiality rights.

In the dissenting opinion for Lambert v. Wicklund, Justice Scalia disagreed with the majority's decision to uphold Montana's parental consent law for minors seeking abortions. He argued that the Court was inconsistent in its application of precedent and failed to provide a clear standard for evaluating abortion restrictions. Furthermore, he criticized the majority’s use of an "undue burden" test as vague and subjective, arguing it allowed judges too much discretion in determining what constitutes an undue burden on a woman’s right to have an abortion. He also contended that there is no constitutional basis for striking down state laws requiring parental involvement in a minor's decision to get an abortion because such laws serve legitimate state interests including protecting minors from making uninformed decisions and fostering family integrity.