Democrats gather at NH Supreme Court voicing concern over future of women’s reproductive rights

Executive Councilor Debra Pignatelli on Sept. 21, 2020. Screenshot/NHDP

CONCORD, N.H. – On Monday, a collection of New Hampshire Democratic elected officials and candidates gathered in front of the New Hampshire Supreme Court building, responding to the recent opening on the U.S. Supreme Court as well the lack of a replacement for New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Robert Lynn since August 2019.

At both the state and federal level, the speakers, bookmarked by Congresswoman Annie Kuster (D-NH) and Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Dan Feltes, attacked New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and President Donald Trump respectively for what they saw as attacks on women’s reproductive rights.

“The very personal medical decisions that women make should be between them and their doctors,” said New Hampshire Senate President Donna Soucy (D-Manchester). “But politicians like Chris Sununu and Donald Trump think they know what’s best for women, and continue to try to legislate what decisions women can make.”

State Representative Marjorie Smith (D-Durham), Chair of the New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee specifically referenced a piece of legislation introduced by Republicans this year that she said would have been a “near-total abortion ban” in New Hampshire, something she saw as flying in the face of recently deceased U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s legacy of justice, equality and respect for reproductive health and rights.

Executive Councilor Debra Pignatelli (D-Nashua) also criticized Sununu regarding his attempt to nominate now New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald as the New Hampshire Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, voicing concerns about MacDonald’s history of conservative political advocacy and the removal of a bi-partisan judicial review board for candidates.

“As Donald Trump attempts to reshape the United States Supreme Court to get rid of Roe v. Wade, to restrict voting rights, and to blur the separation of church and state, Sununu is trying to do the same thing in New Hampshire,” said Pignatelli.

New Hampshire Republican Party Spokesperson Joseph Sweeney saw the entire event as little more than a political stunt.

“Gordon MacDonald remains to this day one of the most qualified and talented nominees to the New Hampshire Supreme Court in history, and Dan Feltes donors like former Chief Justice John Broderick recognize that,” said Sweeney. “Dan Feltes and Ann Kuster are shamelessly importing D.C. style politics into New Hampshire. Instead of fighting for COVID relief, partisan hack Ann Kuster is baselessly attacking Governor Sununu and neglecting the people she should be representing.”

UPDATE 4:00 p.m. 9/21/20 – Ben Vihstadt, spokesperson for Governor Sununu’s re-election campaign, challenged assertions by Democrats regarding MacDonald, noting that MacDonald acknowledged that Roe v. Wade is settled law and that he would be bound to follow it. 
He also noted that Sununu has put forward state contracts for Planned Parenthood each year during his tenure as governor and responded to a veto of a health parity bill earlier this year by stating his failure to do so would jeopardize New Hampshire from receiving federal funds.