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In Case You Missed It, on the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, “hundreds of Granite Staters” rallied at the State House in support of reproductive freedom and to call out Donald Trump, Kelly Ayotte, and the NH GOP for their extreme, anti-choice agendas.
New Hampshire’s Federal Delegation, Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy, State Representative Alexis Simpson, actor Tony Goldwyn, and Kaitlyn Kash, a woman whose life was put at risk because of Texas’ abortion ban, made it clear that the future of abortion rights is at stake in November — especially in New Hampshire, which is the only state in New England without proactive, legal protections for abortion.
Read more below about yesterday’s event and how Democrats are fighting for Granite Staters’ reproductive rights:
WMUR: Abortion Rights Activists Join New Hampshire Lawmakers For Rally Outside of State House: “Two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion rights activists joined Democratic New Hampshire lawmakers outside the State House for a rally last night. Kaitlyn Kash was among that group — she came into national focus when she left her home state of Texas in order to get an abortion.”
Kaitlyn Kash: “I recently learned that New Hampshire's motto is ‘live free or die’…For me, that is exactly what's at stake this election. For me, that is the choice that I see on the ballot.”
U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan: “For the first time in our history, America's daughters are less free than their mothers were at their age.”
[...] Seven hours later, the Biden-Harris New Hampshire campaign's rally featured the state’s congressional delegation and "Law and Order" actor Tony Goldwyn, all of whom criticized former President Donald Trump for naming three justices to the Supreme Court whose votes in the 2021 Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health decision overturned the circa-1973 abortion protections in the case of Roe vs. Wade.
“I know that freedoms in general are really important to people in New Hampshire and when I look around the country and see all the states that enacted abortion bans, this is something we can’t turn away from, and I do assign this to Trump,” Goldwyn said during an interview.
Another Trump presidency could allow him two more Supreme Court nominees who would oppose abortion rights, Goldwyn said.
“The ultra-conservatives in this country are highly motivated. They have traction and are pushing really hard. It is going to get worse if we allow it and that’s why I am here,” Goldwyn added.
Kaitlyn Kash of Austin, Texas, spoke of having to leave her home state, where abortions are banned, to get the procedure out of state.
Planned Parenthood Votes, the political arm of the national abortion provider, announced it would spend $750,000 attacking Republican gubernatorial frontrunner Kelly Ayotte of Nashua on her record of supporting a federal abortion ban while she was in the U.S. Senate.
The effort is expected to reach an estimated 250,000 voters with digital ads, phone calls and door-to-door canvassing.
“The stakes for abortion rights in New Hampshire have never been higher. New Hampshire is the only state in New England with no abortion protections in our state law or state constitution, and who we elect as the next governor of our state will determine access to health care and the freedom to control our lives or not,” said Kayla Montgomery, a spokesperson for the campaign.
[...] Gates MacPherson, communications director for the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said voters won’t be fooled by the Republican Party’s attempt to rebrand itself.
“No election year stunt or spin can change the indisputable fact that New Hampshire Republicans have used their majorities to vilify reproductive health care, propose draconian abortion bans and kill legislation designed to safeguard abortion access,” MacPherson said.
“The NH GOP is clearly afraid of the electoral backlash from their relentless attacks on Granite Staters’ reproductive rights — and they should be, considering the overwhelming majority of voters support expanding reproductive freedom and protecting access to abortion.”
[...] Public opinion polling shows a majority of people support abortion rights.
Protecting those rights has become a potent political weapon for Democrats and is a centerpiece this year as they campaign in races up and down the ballot, including for governor.
[...] Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled N.H. Legislature has blocked attempts to enshrine abortion rights in statute and in the state Constitution. Some members of the party have backed bills in recent legislative sessions to increase restrictions on the procedure.
The N.H. Executive Council, also controlled by the GOP, has blocked funding for family-planning and health service organizations that also provide abortions.
Granite Post: Hundreds of Granite Staters unite against Trump abortion policies on Dobbs anniversary
On the anniversary of Donald Trump’s decision to “proudly” overturn Roe v. Wade, actor Tony Goldwyn joined New Hampshire’s full federal delegation alongside hundreds of Granite Staters to denounce Trump and MAGA extremists’ plans to enforce a nationwide abortion ban and further restrict women’s reproductive rights.
[...] “Right now, because of Donald Trump and MAGA extremists, more than a third of women of reproductive age live under an abortion ban, many of which have no exceptions for rape or incest… Is this the America we want to live in?” asked tony Goldwyn. “Is this the future we’re handing down to our daughters? For Trump, the answer is yes… He supports allowing states to monitor women’s pregnancies to enforce cruel abortion bans and prosecute doctors for providing the care they’re trained to provide.”
Kaitlyn Kash shared her harrowing experience, highlighting the personal toll of Trump’s policies: “Because of the nightmare unleashed by Trump’s abortion bans, I spent the first night of my newborn’s life in the ICU, while a nurse held her three floors away from me. At every step in my family’s journey, I have had to fight just to stay alive and bring home my baby. That should not be the case. But these bans that Trump so proudly takes credit for have brought our health care system to its knees. And it is women like me who are suffering as a result.”
[...] US Senator Jeanne Shaheen emphasized the state’s ethos: “In New Hampshire, the ‘Live Free or Die’ state, we believe no one – not a legislator, not a governor, not a judge – should get to choose what is best for a woman. We get to make our own decisions about what is best for our health, for our family, and for our lives. Donald Trump is a threat to women’s reproductive freedom. We must all do everything we can to stop him and vote in November.”
[...] “Did you hear about the press conference,” Shaheen asked the crowd.
”Where they promised us that they’re not going to do anything more to roll back women’s reproductive freedom? Read their platform, look at what they’ve done. The two year anniversary of this Dobbs decision reminds us what’s at stake. It’s our reproductive freedom.”
“We know that our daughters deserve the same freedoms as everyone else,” added US Sen. Maggie Hassan.
US Congresswoman Annie Kuster drew on her personal experience to express her disgust with Republican efforts to roll back reproductive rights protections.
[...] U.S. Congressman Chris Pappas highlighted the stakes of the 2024 elections: “The truth is women’s rights will be dealt another setback in 2024 if Donald Trump and anti-choice candidates are elected… The stakes couldn’t be higher. The health and well-being of women and families and whether we can restore the right to choose is on the ballot in November and we’ve got to vote like it.”
[...] Polls show a supermajority of Granite Staters — as many as 87% — support reproductive freedom, and 89% of Granite Staters expect state-elected officials to protect or expand abortion access in the state. 66% of NH Republicans agree that “there should be a right to get an abortion in every state in the United States.”
Monday is the anniversary of one of the most consequential Supreme Court rulings in decades: Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, a decision that overturned nearly five decades of national abortion law.
Even though two years have passed, the issue is expected to be front and center in the November election.
The Dobbs Supreme Court ruling touched off a 50-state policy fight, and U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, D-New Hampshire, said nothing has been the same since.
"Everything has changed since the Dobbs decision, and it's not just women's reproductive health," she said. "It's people's life decisions." [...]
Democrats said they believe Congress must act to protect abortion rights, most importantly, in their opinion, in the states that have adopted the most restrictive laws, where they contend basic reproductive health care for women has been criminalized.
"They're literally being told, 'Go out in the parking lot of a hospital and wait until you're hemorrhaging and septic, and then we'll treat you,'" Kuster said. "That's horrifying. And that shouldn't be America in 2024."
New Hampshire Public Radio: Two years after federal abortion protections removed, the issue remains front and center
[...] On Monday evening, several hundred gathered in the State House plaza for what Democrats billed as a "Dobbs mobilization event."
The entire congressional delegation spoke. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen mocked Chris Ager, by pointing to the state Republican platform, which calls for a Life at Conception Act.
"They promised us they are not going to do anything more to roll back women's reproductive freedoms. Do we believe them?” she asked the crowd.
“No way,” people responded.
Democrats in New Hampshire see abortion as a way to mobilize the voters they'll need for President Joe Biden to defeat Donald Trump, and for Democrats to gain ground in Concord in the upcoming general election. [...]