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NHDP
Jan 4, 2022

ROUNDUP: New Hampshire Republicans’ Deeply Unpopular Abortion Ban

On Saturday, January 1st, the New Hampshire Republican’s abortion ban signed into law by Chris Sununu this sunmer went into effect, ripping away access for reproductive health care for Granite Staters. The abortion ban mandates ultrasounds for anyone seeking an abortion at any point during pregnancy, and includes no exceptions for rape, incest, or fatal fetal anomaly and felony penalties for doctors. This abortion ban goes into effect just weeks after Sununu’s Executive Council voted again to defund Planned Parenthood and family planning facilities that provide abortion services, and is another example of the NH GOP’s continued attacks on reproductive rights.

  • On Saturday, January 1, 2022, New Hampshire’s first abortion ban in modern history took effect, restricting abortions at or after 24 weeks gestation, with virtually no exceptions, including none for fatal fetal diagnoses, rape, or incest, and criminalizing doctors… The measures were adopted as part of the state budget trailer bill, HB 2, which was signed into law by Governor Sununu in June, 2021.

  • “Back in June, Governor Sununu signed the two-year state budget and touch within the state budget was an abortion ban the first in modern New Hampshire history. And what is particularly cruel about this is that it has no exceptions… there is no exceptions when it comes to cases of rape or incest, or even fatal fetal diagnoses, and it criminalizes doctors for simply doing their job and working with their patients to get them the health care that they need. Furthermore, this mandatory ultrasound requirement, which is required at all stages of pregnancy, is a law that dictates how providers deliver care anyway that simply isn’t consistent with best medical practices. The bottom line here is that polling shows that this really flies in the face of Granite State values where we value privacy particularly when it comes to reproductive freedoms” said Kayla Montgomery, VP of Public Policy at Planned Parenthood Northern New England.

  • On a small number of issues, the socially-conservative GOP leadership will be leading from behind, such as on abortion rights. The House Judiciary Committee narrowly recommended the repeal of a first-ever requirement that any woman getting an abortion must undergo an ultrasound. The requirement was contained in the ban on abortions after 24 weeks passed last year, the first such prohibition in the state since 1973.

  • The last session produced the state’s first abortion ban, prohibiting abortions after 24 weeks and mandating an ultrasound. It contains no exceptions for rape, incest, or non-viable fetuses and includes criminal penalties for providers who violate the law

  • The new law in New Hampshire comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case that could severely erode abortion rights that have stood for half a century. Republican lawmakers across the country are ready to further restrict or ban abortions outright while Democrats are seeking to ensure access to abortion in their state laws.

  • The Family Life Protection Act was written into the state budget earlier this year and was signed by Governor Chris Sununu. The new law will ban abortions after 24 weeks… An ultrasound will be required before all abortions are performed. A health care provider who violates this new law could face up to seven years in prison.

  • Democrats already have drafted legislation seeking to repeal the new restrictions and to establish state-level protection for abortion access. Some also want to include the right to make reproductive medical decisions a constitutional right. "Make no mistake, effective January first, the state of New Hampshire will be denying a woman the dignity to make personal, private decisions and instead inserting government into medical choices," Rep. Marjorie Smith, D-Durham, said at a news conference earlier this month.

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