Conservative Christian advocacy group exec peddles lies about abortion-related medical care

Shannon McGinley, executive director of Cornerstone, a New Hampshire-based Christian advocacy group, recently peddled lies about the state of medical care for miscarriages in an op-ed last week. 

The op-ed published in the Union Leader was a response to one written by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joyce Craig earlier this month, in which the pro-choice lawmaker shares her own journey of dealing with a miscarriage and seeking a D&C for it. 

In a spar with words, McGinley not only propagated falsehoods such as claiming that Planned Parenthood makes up lies about miscarriage-related care, but also accused Craig of “preying upon expectant mothers.”

“We’ve seen this playbook before. Kelly Ayotte and her allies like Shannon McGinley support extreme abortion bans that would prevent women from getting the care that they need,” Craig said in a written statement to the Granite Post.

Craig, who has maintained a pro-choice stance throughout her career, rolled out a plan to strengthen reproductive rights for Granite Staters in March after launching her bid for governor. 

“I’m running for governor because I believe these decisions belong to women, not politicians,” Craig said in her op-ed.

Under her comprehensive plan, if elected governor, Craig promises to codify abortion rights in the state constitution, direct the state’s medicaid program to cover abortions, and expand access to birth control, among other measures. 

In one of her other non-cited statements, McGinley claims that restrictive abortions laws do not interfere with treatment pregnant women receive during miscarriages. 

Research shows otherwise. 

Complaints about women being turned away from emergency rooms after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe. v Wade in 2022 have gone up, according to the Associated Press. 

While miscarriages are not always emergencies, most patients will look toward emergency rooms to seek care because they need attention outside of clinic hours, are concerned about their symptoms or have nowhere else to go, according to MedPage Today, a medical news website. 

Restrictive abortions laws all across the country have sparked confusion among doctors on how to respond to pregnant patients who want to seek emergency care. Doctors also have little reassurance that administering abortions in emergency rooms would not lead to repercussions like serving jail time, facing changes or fines. 

In Texas, ER doctors refused to treat a woman who was bleeding, making her miscarry in a toilet in the ER lobby. The hospital claims they didn’t help the patient because she was not a client with them. 

In a different case, in Idaho— another state with a near-total abortion ban—doctors refused to provide abortion to a woman, who was leaking amniotic fluid and hemorrhaging, and instead airlifted the woman to Utah, where abortion laws are just a bit lax.

McGinley also wrote that Craig was out-of-touch with 62% of Granite Staters who were against abortions after 6 months. According to a study from Pew Research Center, in 2014, almost 66% of New Hampshire adult residents were supportive of legalizing abortions in all/most cases. 

“As mayor of New Hampshire’s largest city I supported our state’s largest Planned Parenthood and helped ensure residents were able to access the reproductive health care services they needed,” Craig told the Granite Post. “As governor, I will work to protect and expand access to reproductive health care…I don’t believe that access to health care should be limited to just those who can pay, and that includes reproductive and abortion care..”

In 2021, after incumbent Gov. Chris Sununu signed the state’s first modern abortion ban, increasing limits for abortion in the state; almost 56% of people had some sort of opposition to the new ruling, according to a survey done by the University of New Hampshire. There were no gestational limits to abortion in New Hampshire prior to that. 

McGinley herself calls miscarriage a “ tragedy” and something that is “totally involuntary,” and said that “no law prohibited the removal of my deceased baby from my womb.”

Unfortunately that is not the case for many American women. 

In Louisiana, pregnancy care has changed, and doctors are expected to carry out C-sections in cases of miscarriages, instead of carrying out an abortion. C-sections are a major abdominal surgery, and in such circumstances can hinder future pregnancies. Doctors in Louisiana who administer abortions could face up to 15 years in prison, and $200,000 in fines. 

Despite having seemingly relaxed abortion laws, New Hampshire continues to have one of the most restrictive laws in New England. It is the only state in New England that does not let Medicaid dollars be used for abortions, unless the abortion is being carried out to save the life of the mother. 

“I am the only candidate for governor with a comprehensive plan to protect and expand reproductive freedom,” Craig said in her op-ed. “We will codify access to abortion and make reproductive health care more accessible for everyone.”

Craig is running for governor’s race on the Democratic ballot alongside Cinde Warmington.The state primaries are on Sept. 10.