Here in New Hampshire, a law was passed in 2021 banning abortions after six months of pregnancy. The only exceptions were to protect the mother’s life or fetuses with fatal anomalies.
OK, now fast forward to election season 2024 . . .
Governor-elect Kelly Ayotte had repeatedly stated throughout her campaign she would not change NH’s abortion laws or restrict abortion access or infertility treatments like IVF (in vitro fertilization) Kelly Ayotte: Protecting IVF for New Hampshire Families but her past political performances show otherwise.
From 2011 to 2017, Ayotte was the Senator from NH. During that time, she supported the Blunt amendment and the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act permitting employers and insurance companies to deny coverage of birth control and IVF. The amendment failed and the 2011 proposed legislation for the “act” was never voted on. In 2014, Ayotte and 33 other Senators pushed for a vote on the bill “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act”, which would ban abortions nationally after 20 weeks except in cases of incest, rape or the life of the mother. The bill did not pass.
This past Sept., Rep. Joe Sweeney (R-Salem) declared fellow Republican House members were “not touching the issue.” Number 9 on their 10 point “Contract with New Hampshire” list states, Protect Commonsense Abortion Law. Fellow Liberty Alliance member and House Majority Leader Jason Osborne (R-Auburn) called the list “. . .a promise to all of our citizens that we’ll protect and preserve the freedoms we cherish as Granite Staters.”
Except if you’re a female of child bearing age.
Already there is Republican proposed abortion legislation gearing up for the next session set to begin in the new year. Rep. Glenn Cordelli R-Tuftonboro), Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) and Liberty Alliance member is proposing a “precautionary” bill designed to bring about civil and criminal penalties for the “recruitment, harboring, or transporting” of a pregnant minor for an abortion without parental permission. The exception being an emancipated minor. Has this happened anywhere in NH? Cordelli doesn’t know, hence the “precaution.”
Fellow YAL member Rep. John Sellers, (R-Bristol) wants students in high school to have complete knowledge of what having an abortion is all about. He admits he hasn’t heard anything from his constituents on this matter, but, you know, precautionary. Perhaps this would be included in a science class? Sellers would also be in support of a 6 or 15-week abortion ban as that is what he has heard from his constituents about.
Liberty Alliance member Rep. Katy Peternel (R-Wolfboro) has sponsored a bill “relative to restrictions on elective abortion.” Who knows what that means. Hopefully, there will be more information on this in the future.
So much for “not touching the issue.”
Oh, by the way, NH is also the only state in New England that hasn’t codified a right to abortion in our state Constitution.