Last week, the justices agreed to consider whether states that require parental notification before a teenager can get an abortion have to make an exception when the girl's health could be at risk. And the U.S. House late last month passed legislation requiring doctors to call parents when minors cross into other states to have abortions.

While the justices are focused on the health exception and lawmakers on more lenient states that allow teenagers to choose abortion on their own, the case and the legislation are considered a referendum on parental notification laws and the court's landmark Roe v. Wade abortion-rights decision.

"This is a warning to Americans what's at stake here," said Ted Miller, spokesman for the National Abortion Rights Action League.

Utah is at a nexus of the court case and congressional action - geographically and politically. The dovetailing litigation and legislation could force changes in the state's 30-year-old parental notification law and potentially the numbers of girls going to the state's abortion clinics.

"If there's an opportunity to tighten an area of access to abortion, the Utah Legislature would be inclined to move in that direction," said Provo Republican Sen. Curtis Bramble, the sponsor of the state's two most recent abortion laws.

Utah is one of 33 states that require parental notification when a minor attempts to get an abortion. Like New Hampshire's law, which was struck down by lower courts two years ago, Utah's 1974 statute provides no exclusion for a girl whose health is at risk. The state does provide an exception to save a girl's life. And Utah is the only state not to allow a so-called "judicial bypass," where a teenager can appeal to a judge to avoid telling her parents about her pregnancy.

Most of the Intermountain states have similar requirements. Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and Arizona all require parental notification; Nevada and New Mexico do not.

According to the Utah Department of Health, 195 girls had abortions in 2003. Of those, 24 were less than 15 years old and 171 were aged 15 to 17.

As a result of the different state laws, girls in the Intermountain West frequently cross state lines for abortions. Because of the dearth of doctors willing to perform abortions in Wyoming and northern Arizona, Utah doctors also terminate pregnancies for teens from those states. In 2003, 24 girls traveled into Utah from surrounding states to have abortions. At the same time, Utah girls traveled to Nevada to avoid telling their parents about their pregnancies. Two years ago, 30 Utah teenagers had abortions in that state.

Of the Utah girls who went to Nevada for abortions, 10 were 15 to 17 years old and 20 were 18 to 19 years old.

Nearly 95 percent of the time, the girls arrive at the Salt Lake City clinic with one of their parents, says Madhuri Shah, medical director of the Utah Women's Clinic. For those who don't, clinic workers call their parents or their husbands.

"Some are OK. Some are angry. Some don't care," Shah said.

Utah's law does not require that the parents consent to the abortion. But one Utah mother believes just telling the parents is traumatic enough for the girls. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, knows in painful detail what it's like to have to tell your mom you're pregnant - at 16.

Sixteen years ago, she faced the same dilemma her daughter admitted last month. But while she waited four months to tell her parents - too far into her pregnancy to get an abortion - she and her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend went to the women's clinic in Salt Lake City last month for state-mandated counseling and a series of pills to induce miscarriage.

She's glad her daughter dared to tell her the truth six weeks into her pregnancy. But she doesn't believe Utah should force clinic workers to notify parents when older teenagers show up to get an abortion. Her daughter's pregnant friend ran away and hitchhiked to another state to have an abortion to avoid Utah's notification law.

"With the level of fear these poor girls feel, they'd rather put themselves in harm's way than tell their parents," she said.

"It's already such an important decision to make - whether or not to have an abortion. They're old enough to make the decision without having to deal with the stress of having to tell their parent."

Planned Parenthood Public Policy Vice President Bev Cooper agrees.

"As a parent, if my daughter couldn't come to me, regardless of the reason, more than anything, I would want her to be safe," Cooper said. "Her safety is more important than the government forcing her to tell me."

Despite the apparent deterrent effect of Utah's law, the National Right to Life Committee considers the state statute "ineffective," according to The Associated Press. Repeated calls for comment to the National Right to Life Committee were not returned.

The results of the Supreme Court case and the legislation likely will determine whether Utah lawmakers tinker with the state code.

Utah Eagle Forum Director Gayle Ruzicka would like Utah lawmakers to make the state abortion statute even more restrictive, requiring parental consent for a teen's abortion.

"I'd rather have it be a permission law," Ruzicka said. "At this point, we haven't seen a need to change the law. But if something should happen to allow us to tighten it, we would. We always watch for that and hope to do it."

And as Bramble points out, next year is an election year for many legislators.