NH Senate Dems introduce bills to strengthen abortion rights

Members of the New Hampshire Senate Democrats gathered on Thursday to unveil a slate of new bills aimed at shoring up abortion rights in the state, as well as a constitutional amendment aimed at enshrining proactive abortion protections into state law.

State Senator Cindy Rosenwald (D-Nashua) said she planned to put forward Senate Bill 461, a bill aimed at providing clarity to providers and patients by repealing a provision of the fetal life protection act — the 24 week ban passed by Governor Chris Sununu and Republicans in the legislature in the 2021 state budget — that states “nothing in the act shall be construed to create a right to abortion.”

“The women of our state fear their rights are going to be ripped away. They fear that choices about their futures will be made for them. And they are afraid that because politicians have inserted themselves into exam rooms with confusing legal jargon, their doctors will hesitate to provide them with lifesaving care.” Rosenwald said.

RELATED: NH House Dems want to let voters decide abortion rights under state constitution

Following a decision by the US Supreme Court to hear arguments on whether mifepristone, the drug most commonly used for medication abortions, will continue to be easily available, State Senator Becky Whitley (D-Hopkinton) said she would be putting forward Senate Bill 567, aimed at creating state-level protections for reproductive health medications. 

“This method of care has helped ensure that patients are able to make their own private medical decisions, and has expanded access to reproductive health care — something that is under dire threat in our country,” Whitley said. “I want to be clear that attacks on mifepristone are strictly politically motivated, instigated, and funded by extreme actors to further their agenda to ban abortion, birth control, and other sexual and reproductive health care nationwide.” 

State Senator Debra Altschiller (D-Stratham) said she was putting forward a constitutional amendment designed to enshrine abortion rights into state law (CACR24). She also plans to introduce another bill designed, among other things, to prohibit government officials or police agencies from cooperating with any out-of-state investigation into abortions performed in New Hampshire. The bill would also ban the extradition of individuals seeking abortions in the state,

“The end goal for extremist anti-choice politicians that are now driving the Republican platform nationwide, like the ones right here in New Hampshire who introduced a 15 day abortion ban, is to permanently ban and criminalize abortion and reproductive healthcare in this country,” Altschiller said. “We are only beginning to see the horrifying, painful and fatal consequences of the Republicans’ intentions to implement forced pregnancies in our state and elsewhere.”