Description: A New Hampshire law allows the creation of 25-foot zones in which no person may speak, stand, or even enter on public ways and sidewalks outside of abortion facilities. The law explicitly exempts abortion facility escorts, allowing such individuals to engage in speech and expressive activities favorable to abortion—encouraging and compelling women to enter the abortion facilities and continue with the abortions—while prohibiting pro-life advocates from engaging in any expressive activity within the zones.
1st Circuit sidesteps ruling on constitutionality of NH censorship zones
Thursday, Jan 12, 2017
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom allied attorney Michael Tierney regarding the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit’s decision Wednesday in Reddy v. Foster that sidesteps ruling on the constitutionality of New Hampshire’s censorship zone law:
“An unconstitutional law shouldn’t remain on the books just because abortionists haven’t taken advantage of the power the law gives them to silence free speech. The 1st Circuit’s decision made no determination as to whether the New Hampshire statute would pass constitutional muster. Instead, the court left the law in place without further scrutiny unless and until an abortion business wields it. For that reason, we are considering our next legal steps.”
New Hampshire’s law allows the creation of 25-foot censorship zones in which no person may speak, stand, or even enter on public ways and sidewalks outside of abortion facilities. In June 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down a similar law in McCullen v. Coakley, a case ADF attorneys and allied attorneys filed in 2008.
- Pronunciation guide: Tierney (TEER’-nee)