Planned Parenthood contract, abortion law divide Executive Council 2 candidates

Oct. 15—Cinde Warmington, whose N.H. Executive Council District 2 takes in Keene and much of the Monadnock Region, faces state Sen. Harold French in a Nov. 8 general election race for a panel that shares power with the governor.

The five-member council approves receipts and expenditures of state and federal funds, confirms the appointment of judges and commissioners and hears pardon requests.

A running battle on the council involves funding of state contracts for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, which has an office in Keene, and two other family planning providers.

Warmington, 64, a Concord attorney and the lone Democrat on the council, has been the only councilor to vote in favor of these contracts over the past two years.

The others have voiced concerns that this money could be used for abortion services, even though the providers said, and a state audit confirmed, that such funding is kept separate and not used for that purpose.

Instead such funds are used for cancer screenings, contraceptives as well as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.

French, a 65-year-old Canterbury auctioneer, said Friday that, if elected to the council, he would also block these contracts.

French supports legislation state lawmakers approved last year that prohibits most abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions to preserve the woman's life or a bodily function or when the fetus has a fatal defect. He objects to the way Planned Parenthood has been critical of the Legislature.

"Planned Parenthood took out advertisements decrying that we did this," he said. "This leads me to believe that Planned Parenthood feels abortions should be allowed right up to and after the time of birth."

A statement on the Planned Parenthood Action Fund website says the ability to control one's personal medical decisions, including whether to end a pregnancy, is a fundamental human right and that restricting abortion access is dangerous and inhumane.

At the Executive Council's Sept. 28 meeting at the Jaffrey Airport, Warmington, a former medical technologist, lashed out at Gov. Chris Sununu when he said New Hampshire's abortion restrictions are similar to those elsewhere, including Massachusetts. The law in that state includes a general exception for the health of the woman.

"When the mother comes in and she's hemorrhaging, a doctor [in New Hampshire] has to sit there and make a decision about whether we're talking, 'Is this mother going to die, is there a 100 percent chance she's going to die, or is it 90 percent?' " she told the governor. "That doctor then has to make that decision and make that decision with an awareness that he or she might go to jail if they make the wrong call. So it is not the same as Massachusetts."

Warmington, who is seeking her second term, said climate change is a big issue affecting New Hampshire. The Executive Council may determine whether or not to accept federal contracts to fund renewable energy under the Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden signed into law over the summer.

She said the warming of the climate poses enormous threats to the state.

"We're ignoring what's happening on the Seacoast as we have rising waters and increased storms," she said Friday. "Talk to any of the farmers in our state about what the effects are of the warming of our climate."

French said he might be inclined to approve some funding under the act, which, among other things, is intended to speed renewable energy development.

"I would love to see more solar power in the state," he said. "I'm definitely a proponent of solar in this state, but the problem is a lot of federal money is tied to other areas you might object to, so you have to take it on a case-by-case basis."

Rick Green can be reached at rgreen@keenesentinel.com or 603-355-8567.