New Hampshire In The News

Today, oral arguments will begin before the US Supreme Court in the case of Ayotte v Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. The issue before the Court is a New Hampshire statute which requires parental notification of minors seeking an abortion. The law was never enacted due to early court challenges:

"Both sides believe that a crucial issue will be the law's lack of an emergency exception for a woman's health. The law requires a 48-hour waiting period for parental notification, which critics say could endanger the health of a woman seeking an abortion. In addition, the court will hear arguments about whether such a law can be challenged before it has gone into effect. The law has been blocked by a court injunction since it was due to go into effect in 2003."

Although experts don't expect the case to directly challenge Roe v Wade, it still has huge implications for the abortion battle, as well as parental rights arguments. All eyes will be on the questioning of newly-appointed Chief Justice Roberts, hoping to get a hint of his stance on these important issues. Justice O'Connor will hear the arguments, but if she is replaced by Judge Alito prior to the final decision, only 8 Justices will vote. Should the case be decided in a 4-4 tie, it will then need to be re-argued.

In a State the size of some of our large cities, this case also has a certain "hometown" feel for many New Hampshirites. I've watched Kelly Ayotte on television effectively prosecuting one of NH's rare high profile cases, the 2001 Zantop murders. She appeared quite competant, but this still had the look and manner of the "gal nextdoor". It's a little hard to picture her arguing before the SCOTUS, but hopefully this gal will make good.

Interestingly, this isn't the first time a NH case has made it to the US Supreme Court. In 1977 the case of Wooley vs Maynard was decided in favor George Wooley, a Claremont resident and Jehova's Witness who was arrested in Lebanon (home of the original Mazurland) for covering up the "Live Free Or Die" motto on his license plate:

"In a 6-to-3 decision, the Court held that New Hampshire could not constitutionally require citizens to display the state motto upon their vehicle license plates. The Court found that the statute in question effectively required individuals to "use their private property as a 'mobile billboard' for the State's ideological message."

Personally, I rather like the motto.

Update: WizBang has put up a very informative post on this important case.