Writers offer strong, personal views NH and federal abortion rights law changes: Letters

Government has no place in highly personal, individual abortion decisions

July 6 — To the Editor:

I know first hand that the decision to have an abortion is unique to each situation and laws restricting access to abortion cannot properly address each case.

Abortion later in a pregnancy is rare and is usually due to medical issues. New Hampshire’s new abortion ban was recently amended to allow abortions later in pregnancy in “the case of fetal abnormalities incompatible with life.” While this is a good change to a cruel law, it does not go far enough.

Years ago, my wife and I had a child with many birth defects, spina bifida, tetralogy of fallot, a missing corpus callosum, missing kidney and others. Each condition individually was life threatening but, with surgery, had high survival rates. We found out about these conditions late in the pregnancy and, given the technology at the time, we could not determine if they were treatable until after our son was born. Unfortunately, his condition was fatal and he died three days after birth. He was in pain the entire time.

Today, a family going through this would need a doctor to attest that the fetus had “abnormalities incompatible with life” before they could choose to have an abortion. No single abnormality was incompatible with life. The combinations made my son’s condition terminal. Our family’s story — and the stories of many brave Granite Staters who have spoken out this year — underscore why these are not decisions for the government to be making.

Every pregnancy is unique. Families like mine deserve support and medical options and New Hampshire’s abortion ban should be repealed in its entirety. This November, join me to elect legislators who will protect and expand access to abortion care for all Granite Staters.

Michael Michaud

Dover

What kind of world must my granddaughter grow up in?

July 5 — To the Editor:

Do you value life? What does "Live Free or Die" mean to you? Be real.....Because unless you support banning assault rifles designed for theaters of war and unless you insist on exceptions to abortion bans for the life and well-being of individual women, you are devaluing life and signing death warrants for untold multiples of innocent individuals, including children.

How many more shootings and sudden deaths within communities and families before we ban assault weapons? How many women will curl up in agony and potentially die because medical care is not available to them due to an assaultive ban on pregnancy terminations?

I sat at the Rye fireworks display this past Friday evening with one of my granddaughters and several friends imagining how the Rye police and I might respond if a shooter entered Parsons Field and began spraying bullets. Then, on Sunday, I turned on the news and saw the terror in the faces of the families of Hyde Park. Have we lost our way as citizens to the point where we are okay with guns of war in all of our communities? Are we accepting of the fact that a highly trained obstetrician could face criminal liability in many states due to their abortion laws?

What world is my granddaughter growing up in and trying to make sense of herself as a caring person?

Ronna Flaschner

Rye

Gov. Sununu has robbed NH women of their reproductive freedom

July 6 — To the Editor:

New Hampshire deserves a new governor for many reasons. For example, Gov. Chris Sununu’s abortion ban. All abortions are tragedies, but they sometimes are necessary. They must be safe and legal.

The governor claimed to be pro-choice. He won many votes based on that dishonest statement. Gov. Sununu signed an egregious bill that denied New Hampshire women the freedom to make medical decisions privately with the advice of their healthcare provider. Poor, Black, and Brown women will suffer the most from this harsh edict. New Hampshire women have become second-class citizens because of Gov. Sununu’s law. Make no mistake, he owns this law.

After signing the bill into law, Gov. Sununu bragged that he had done more to limit access to abortion than anyone in the past 40 years. Does this sound like someone you want making decisions about your health care?

Chris Sununu owns the abortion ban and there is no way out of it. Being pro-choice and signing that bill does not add up for any reason. What does add up? We cannot trust this man to be our governor. He is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing," a governor who has robbed New Hampshire women of their reproductive freedom.

Conclusion: New Hampshire needs a new governor.

Miriam Cahill-Yeaton

Epsom

Kittery officials should support affordable housing at Dennett Landing

July 6 — To the Editor:

There are several problems protesting the proposed Dennett Road housing development in Kittery.

First, the Town Development Committee (TDC), after lengthy study, proposed affordable housing as a key ingredient, the Planning Board missed this element in its review.

Second, the town planner missed this omission, even after years of Kittery seeking low-cost housing.

Third, a member of original TDC review, and proposal, was the monkey wrench instigator of the protest, was supportive of the plan when formed. Now, maybe to gain attention, he tosses a wrench into the development process.

So what’s to be done?

In my opinion, at the July 13 meeting:

1. Direct the Planning Board to modify its approval and mandate inclusion of affordable housing in the developer’s proposal.

2. Town manager and development director need to speak up at July 13 meeting and detail why the project is to the town's benefit.

3. To avoid costs of special elections the council needs to make decisions at July 13 meeting to get project rolling.

David Lincoln

York, Maine

Supreme Court rightly overturned Roe v. Wade

To the Editor:

Well, they did it. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. And rightly so as it reversed an almost 50-year-old unconstitutional precedent.

Let's be clear. The word abortion is never mentioned in the Constitution so it is not a constitutional right. Additionally, the Supreme Court did not abolish abortion. All they did was transfer that decision to the states. Period!

This actually is a more democratic process as citizens in each state now have the ability to elect representatives that match their beliefs. Thus all people can now influence this important decision that affects their lives instead of having that outcome being made by nine unelected justices.

Further the belief that overturning a precedent is, well, unprecedented is both false and necessary. Consider these historic and proper prior court actions which reversed precedents and made America stronger and more ethical. Outlawing slavery. Eliminating prohibition. Women's suffrage.

As to the red herring argument now being advanced by some that this decision could lead to further reversals, this is simply not true. The court went out of their way to say this decision has no affect on any other right or issue as they will be individually debated and decided based on their own merit.

Unfortunately, lost in the discussion of a woman's right to control her own body is the constant and deliberate ignoring of the rights of the unborn child as President Biden correctly refers to them. Modern science now helps us understand about the tiny human being's early uniqueness before birth. It behooves each of us to follow our conscience when making this decision.

So what now?

For pro-abortion advocates, they need to work to elect representatives who espouse their views.

Pro-life advocates must continue to work to elect strong conservative constitutionalists in order to maintain this momentum.

Laurence F. Messner

Hampton

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Strong views from writers on NH, federal abortion law changes: Letters