New Hampshire's federal delegation vows to fight for abortion rights
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May 10—CONCORD — The state's all-Democratic congressional delegation vows to keep working to defend a woman's reproductive freedom even as the U.S. Supreme Court is on the verge of overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.
The push comes as the U.S. Senate prepared to debate legislation Wednesday to codify into federal law the protections for abortions the Roe decision had secured.
The effort is doomed to fail as it needs 60 votes to pass the Senate, and Republicans are in lockstep against it.
"I know we are going to continue to stand up for the freedom of each and every woman in New Hampshire and across the country," said Sen. Maggie Hassan Monday during a press conference at the Concord headquarters of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said women don't want to go back to the times before the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, which legalized abortion up to the point when a fetus is viable to live outside the womb.
"I remember what it was like before Roe — I knew women who sought back-alley abortions and put their lives in danger," Shaheen said. "It's chilling that we are now on the cusp of seeing these hard-fought rights rolled back and losing what generations of women worked to secure. We may soon see women across the country — particularly low-income women and women of color — bear the brunt of the devastating consequences if Roe is overturned."
Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, D-Concord, said she would keep pressing the Republican-led council to drop its opposition to state family planning grants for providers like Planned Parenthood that operate abortion clinics.
Since last June, the council has voted three times against about $1 million in grants for Planned Parenthood and two other providers that have abortion clinics in Concord and Greenland.
"We talk about freedom, but freedom for women starts with being able to make our own health care decisions. The ability to plan, prevent and space our pregnancies is critical to making healthy moms, healthy babies and healthy families," Warmington said.
Sununu soon to sign off on exemption from abortion ban
Gov. Chris Sununu said last week it made little sense to bring these contracts back up unless GOP councilors had a change of heart.
Sununu said he looks forward to soon signing legislation that will exempt from the state's ban on late-term abortions fetal anomalies that are incompatible with life.
The GOP-led Legislature rejected Sununu's pleas to carve out other exemptions to the ban for cases of rape and incest and to do away with criminal penalties against doctors who perform abortions after a fetus reaches 24 weeks.
Kimberly Morin, a conservative activist, said with or without Roe v. Wade abortion policies are set by state lawmakers and not Congress.
"They are lying to women. Abortion is a state issue," Morin said.
Planned Parenthood Communications Director Sara Persechino said the organization would not deny family planning services to any client.
"From the ballot box to the halls of the State House to our health centers, we will do everything we can to help those patients get abortion care safely — no matter what," Persechino said.
The group has urged Gov. Sununu to veto legislation (HB 1625) that would repeal the law that mandates a buffer zone be in place outside abortion clinics.
U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster said business owners need to realize that further abortion restrictions could hurt them as the state already faces a workforce shortage.
"If New Hampshire bans access to women's health care and their fundamental freedom and autonomy, then this will impact access to the best employees that you can hire," Kuster said. "There will be women and families who will not choose to live here because they can't make this fundamental decision for themselves without the interference from politicians."
Rep. Chris Pappas said he and Kuster voted for the federal bill to codify Roe v. Wade that the U.S. House approved earlier last January.
"There isn't a switch we can just flip to alter this situation, but it is a fight we have to commit to waging for years," Pappas said.
