Abortion debate in NH gets off to heated start in 2024
CONCORD — Tensions ran high over New Hampshire abortion bills and a proposed state constitutional amendment to enshrine an individual’s right to abortion at the State House Thursday.
State Sen. Debra Altschiller, DStratham, and Sen. Bill Gannon, R-Sandown, sparred over the rights of the mother versus the rights of the fetus. Altschiller emphasized every citizen is born equally free and independent, and the mother should have full autonomy over her pregnancy.
“My difference of view is I believe that a child, certainly in the later months of pregnancy, has those rights that you’re talking about, and you don’t,” said Gannon.
“I did not say that,” replied Altschiller.
The debate took place in a state Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Dr. Ode Young, a retired obstetrician/ gynecologist, gave testimony in support of the constitutional amendment. He referenced the many deaths his mentor had seen due to abortions outside a professional healthcare setting. He raised his voice after Gannon asked if he thought late-term abortions, as far as nine months, were OK.
“I really object to you using the term abortion after 24 weeks. That is not an abortion, that is a birth, and that’s a medical question,” said Young.
At this point, Sen. Sharon Carson, Republican chair of the committee, stopped the verbal exchange and urged civil discourse.
The arguments over the proposed amendment set the stage for what will likely be many heated discussions over abortion in the New Hampshire 2024 legislative session.
What is the proposed constitutional amendment on abortion?
In 2021, Gov. Chris Sununu signed a two-year state budget that included an abortion ban after 24 weeks “except in cases of a medical emergency.” The ban prompted negative reactions from state Democratic leaders and organizations like Planned Parenthood, but remains the current law on abortion in New Hampshire, with amendments.
This proposed amendment, Constitutional Amendment Concurrent Resolution 24, would remove the 24-week limit by adding the right to abortion to the state constitution. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, seven states have recognized the right to abortion in their constitutions. New Hampshire has a high bar to pass a constitutional amendment: the resolution would need to pass both the House and the Senate by two-thirds majorities to appear on the ballot in November for New Hampshire residents. A two-thirds majority would be needed from voters to enact the amendment.
Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, a Democrat, pointed out that 2024 being an election year should factor into decisions about abortion.
“We all see the same polling. We all talk to our voters, and we hear from both women and men that they want abortion safe, legal and accessible in New Hampshire,” Rosenwald said. “So, if we want to get reelected, we better listen.”
Gannon said the current law is enough. “We have a 24-week period that seemed to be accepted by the populace to be very popular,” he said in the hearing. “Now we’re going to the extreme, to right up to birth.”
What are the other NH abortion bills in 2024?
The House and Senate will be debating several abortion bills from both sides of the aisle this year.
Rep. Dave Testerman, R-Merrimack, has sponsored a bill, HB 1248, to ban abortions after 15 days, creating, in effect, a total abortion ban. The bill, which gained national attention when proposed, appears highly unlikely to pass.
Senate Bill 575, sponsored by Altschiller, seeks to establish legal protection for legal New Hampshire abortion and contraception care. This would include protection for individuals who traveled out of state to receive an abortion in New Hampshire as well as for the providers of those abortions.
Rosenwald is sponsoring a bill to repeal a “confusing” part of last year’s Fetal Life Protection Act that says nothing in the act should be construed to create a right to abortion. “Women in our state fear their rights are going to be ripped away,” she said. “And they are afraid of that because politicians have inserted themselves into exam rooms, with confusing legal jargon, their doctors will hesitate to provide them with lifesaving care.”
Senate Republicans have filed a bill to require a second doctor present at any abortion after 15 weeks who would make all attempts to preserve the life of the unborn child.
Both Senate and House Democrats are proposing legislation that deals with abortion medication, including but not limited to mifepristone, a drug used in combination with misoprostol to terminate pregnancy prior to 70 days. Arguments about the drug will be heard by the Supreme Court this year.
Senate Bill 567 directs the Department of Health and Human Services to protect and expand access to mifepristone as well as other critical medications for reproductive health, and House Concurrent Resolution 11 proposes a resolution to condemn restrictions on medication abortion.
Another constitutional amendment is being proposed by House Democrats and one Republican to include the right to an abortion prior to 24 weeks.