Catholic Fire notes that "Chief Justice Roberts to Hear First Abortion Related Case"

Jean over at Catholic Fire relays important news from Tim over at Pro-Life Blogs. SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts will hear his first abortion case on the High Court! Behold!

On Wednesday this week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. Although the case centers around a New Hampshire law that requires parental notification before a minor child obtains an abortion, the broader legal issue could either open the floodgates or slam the door on future challenges to abortion laws.

Liberty Counsel's amicus brief, filed at the Supreme Court in support of the New Hampshire law, focuses on the broader impact of the Ayotte case. Beyond parental notification, the broader legal issue involves an "as applied" versus a "facial" challenge to legislation. An "as applied" challenge contests the application of a law to a specific situation, and if found unconstitutional, it is unconstitutional in that specific application. If the law can be constitutionally applied to another set of facts, it remains constitutional to that set of facts. A "facial" challenge is an exception to normal litigation and can usually only occur in a limited free speech context. Even in that context, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving that the law is unconstitutional in every conceivable application. This is a heavy burden to prove.

Now, we begin to see how devoted to Strict Constructionism Justice Roberts truly is. Expect the fireworks to start soon!