'Making a real difference': Seacoast volunteers explain role in the abortion-rights fight

GREENLAND — Emma Dolan is one of the many regular volunteers at the Lovering Health Center.

As a private birth doula, her regular job is to help guide and support women through birth. As a volunteer at Lovering, she describes her role as holding the hands of people making one of the hardest decisions of their lives, whether that’s during the abortion procedure, or in the aftercare room. Dolan started volunteering after seeing abortion restrictions in states like Texas become law.

“You see what’s happening in other states, and in those conversations I’m not even a tenth of a drop in the bucket. I walk into Lovering and hold someone’s hand during an abortion procedure, I’m making a real difference,” Dolan said Friday during a roundtable discussion on reproductive healthcare. “You don't have to have a uterus to participate in this fight. You don't have to ever want to get pregnant to be in this fight. There's a way that everybody can be involved.”

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Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, visited Lovering Friday to hold a roundtable discussion with representatives and volunteers of the Lovering Health Center and Planned Parenthood Northern New England. She was looking to gauge the effects they are seeing from the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn of Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion.

Lovering Health Center Executive Director Sandi Denoncour emphasized abortion is still legal in New Hampshire up to 24 weeks, and services at Lovering Center are not affected by the Supreme Court decision. Abortion is now illegal in many other states.

“While we don't have the immediate access barriers to abortion that other states have immediately following the Supreme Court decision, we know that this is part of the bigger context of limiting reproductive freedoms in New Hampshire and it is intentional,” Denoncour said. “The services we provide will not change, but that depends on who is elected into the (state) Executive Council and state level. We are here, and we will provide services without barriers.”

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Supreme Court decision sparks volunteers and activism

Denoncour said the Lovering Center is providing fewer abortions now than 10 years ago, crediting robust family planning programs. There is however, a sense of “hopelessness” among the people Lovering serves following the Supreme Court decision, Denoncour said. On the positive side, there has been a surge in community involvement and volunteers wanting to help the center, Denoncour added.

“There is a phenomenal reproductive justice movement coming from the younger generation right now, so we're really trying to keep people engaged,” Denoncour said. “We have had increased calls and questions about long-term contraception plans from those worried about moving or going to college in a state with restrictive reproductive health laws. These young people are very worried about navigating the impact to them across state lines.”

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Liz Canada from the Planned Parenthood of Northern New England said there has been “an incredible amount of confusion” since the Supreme Court decision. Planned Parenthood has also received more calls with questions, donations and visits from out-of-state clients.

“There's been an increase in patients from states with restrictions, but also from neighboring states,” Canada said. “There’s been an increase in patients from Massachusetts, where nothing changed, but it really stems from the health centers there. It's harder to get an appointment there and so it is easier for some patients who live there to come up here. It’s a domino effect.”

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What anti-abortion protesters have to say

A small group of anti-abortion protesters stood at the edge of the Lovering Health Center driveway Friday, holding up signs and passing out pamphlets. Protesters in front of the center are not an unusual sight. They were not there because of Shaheen's visit, stating they regularly protest to “promote the sanctity of life and the word of God,” according to Patrice Leach, one of the protesters.

Leach held a sign that read “Equal rights for women do not look like dead children" and she stated they believe life begins at conception, so “equal rights for all extends to babies in the womb.”

Emily Dye said they aren’t there to cause trouble, they just want to connect with anyone considering abortion in case they are reconsidering their decision or need spiritual guidance.

“Just because something is legal in this state, doesn’t mean it’s right,” Dye said. “We are here to talk with them about our experiences and testify that there are other options.”

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Shaheen said she never expected the right to an abortion would be overturned, and she was “outraged by the court decision."

“The idea that as women we shouldn't make what is, I think, one of the most personal and private decisions that women and families make is unacceptable,” Shaheen said. “We need to be able to make those decisions for ourselves. When I first got involved in politics, this wasn't a party issue. It's been unfortunate that it's become such a partisan issue.”

Shaheen’s message was clear: “I'm hopeful that people will ask questions before this November election, because the results of this upcoming election can ensure that there are some reproductive healthcare protections in New Hampshire. Ask candidates where they stand on this issue, and if they'd stand by that vote if elected.”

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Shaheen shared her concerns regarding the state Executive Council’s decision last year to defund Title X, which defunded four family planning providers, including Lovering and Planned Parenthood.

“If you don't want abortions, then you need to provide family planning services,” Shaheen said. “You need to help families decide how they make their decisions and what choices they have. I've always found it mind boggling that people seem to willingly disconnect those two. Reproductive health care, it's not just about abortions.”

Denoncour emphasized the Lovering Center doesn’t exclusively serve women, it serves anyone in the LGBTQ+ community who can become pregnant or is in need of services.

“We have worked really hard to extend the conversation because we serve all genders in abortion care and family planning services,” Denoncour said. “We hoped to be at a point where we were no longer debating the political protection, but that we were actually moving the conversation forward to be more gender inclusive and elevating more voices.”

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Shaheen said she remembers her mother telling her stories about what few options women had before having access to birth control and before the protections Roe v. Wade provided for abortion. She said family planning and access to reproductive health care are about women being able to make educated choices on what's right for them and their family.

“That is part of the conversation that's also getting lost right now because we haven't had to worry about that for such a long time,” Shaheen said. “We don't yet know what the ramifications of these decisions will be.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Jeanne Shaheen hears about abortions in NH from volunteers at Lovering