Hi Friends, The state legislature was back in full swing in New Hampshire this week, with a pair of abortion bans grabbing most of the headlines. Both bills had a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, and while more than 1,300 Granite States registered opposition to the two bills, just 30 people signed-in in favor of them, according to the Union Leader. Co-sponsored by a key political ally of Kelly Ayotte, State Senator Carrie Gendreau, HB1248 would ban all abortions 15 days after gestation, effectively banning all abortions. Ayotte announced Gendreau’s support at the launch of her campaign for Governor, and the two have hit the campaign trail together since as well. The bill requires women undergo an “obstetric ultrasound examination” to determine the age of the fetus. Members of New Hampshire’s medical community shared powerful testimony against Gendreau’s ban, “saying the bill was among the most extreme bans proposed in the entire country, and would damage healthcare in the state broadly,” according to the Granite Post. The second bill, HB1541, which would ban abortion after 15 weeks, further restricts reproductive rights even further beyond the ban enacted by Chuck Morse and New Hampshire Republicans in 2021. Both HB1248 and HB1541 include the same criminal penalties for doctors and health care providers as the current New Hampshire abortion ban Gendreau has admitted her goal is to eliminate any access to abortion in New Hampshire. In an interview with the Caledonian Record, she said, “I thought 15 days is better than 24 weeks. I would rather have it zero. I really would.” Another of the bill's sponsors, echoed her comments, “Actually, [the ban on abortion] should be from conception. And really, I'll bet that 15 days is technically from conception," he told WMUR. |