Residents of New Hampshire, the “Live Free or Die” state, are facing unprecedented attacks on reproductive rights. The state’s first abortion ban in modern history went into effect at the beginning of this year, and legislative attempts to further erode reproductive freedom have followed.
“The enactment of this ban — the first in modern New Hampshire history — was a wake up call for many,” Autumn Houle, representative of The Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire, told Liberation News. “While New Hampshire may feel less hostile to abortion and ‘safer’ than southern states like Mississippi and Texas, the slew of anti-abortion bills — and this ban — shows us otherwise.”
New Hampshire’s abortion ban went into effect January 1, outlawing abortion at 24-weeks of pregnancy with an exception if the mother’s life or health is in danger. However, the law grants no exceptions for fatal fetal diagnoses, rape or incest. The bill also mandates invasive and costly ultrasounds for any person seeking an abortion at any stage of pregnancy. The law also criminalizes health care providers who face a class B felony, up to 7 years in prison, and a fine up to $100,000 if they are found in violation of the new law. The abortion ban was written into New Hampshire’s 2022 state budget, approved by Governor Chris Sununu.
Last year saw the largest attack on abortion rights since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, and the most abortion restrictions enacted in a single year — 106 restrictions across 19 states. New Hampshire was one of them, joining the total 43 states that now restrict access to abortion care in some way.
Most people in New Hampshrie oppose abortion restrictions
The majority of Granite Staters oppose abortion restrictions, with just one-third of respondents to a UNH Survey Center poll supportive of the abortion ban.
Despite this opposition, the New Hampshire Senate rejected legislation that would have repealed the abortion ban, and a separate amendment that would have added an exception for fatal fetal diagnosis.
“Granite State women and families who find themselves in complex circumstances surrounding pregnancy, like a fatal fetal diagnosis or a pregnancy as a result of rape or incest, deserve our compassion and support — not shame and certainly not arbitrary bans on abortion care. The Senate’s refusal to add exceptions for these situations to the state abortion ban is extreme,” said Kayla Montgomery, Vice President of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.
New Hampshire legislators are taking the attacks against reproductive freedom even further, introducing multiple bills that would increase abortion restrictions. HB1477, modeled after Texas’ abortion ban, would decrease the time abortions could be performed in New Hampshire from 24 to 6 weeks, effectively outlawing nearly all abortions in the state.
Another upcoming bill would repeal New Hampshire’s safety zone law, which prohibits protesting outside reproductive care facilities. This means that patients could face harassment trying to access health care in centers that perform abortions.
One particularly egregious bill is HB1181. If passed, it would allow any man to petition the court to stop a pregnant person from accessing abortion care. A pregnant person could be forced to delay an abortion while tied up in the court system by any man claiming to be the father, and could be forced to carry the pregnancy to term, even facing criminal charges in the case of miscarriage.
In her testimony opposing HB1181, Nina Webb, a New Hampshire resident, asked, “How do we raise children properly when we as a country do not provide paid parental leave, affordable child care, or healthcare? We are living in a state that hasn’t raised the minimum wage in 13 years. We don’t have affordable housing; we don’t have affordable college. This is all correlated to raising a child in a healthy environment. Passing [these kinds of policies] would be pro-life.”
“The majority of our state believes in reproductive rights, it’s the people in power who are allowing this phony ‘pro-life’ narrative to dominate the conversation,” Renée Monteil, a full-spectrum doula and New Hampshire resident told Liberation News.
“This isn’t just about men wanting to control women’s bodies, it’s part of a much bigger system,” Monteil continued, “We are experiencing the lowest birth-rate in recent history and the ruling class is afraid; they rely on our unpaid labor raising children into workers to keep capitalism moving. Most of these legislators are not religious, but they will use any means or ideas necessary to uphold this system, including religion, and they will continue encroaching on our rights in any way they can.”
If those in power have their way, attacks on reproductive freedoms will not end with these bills, and they will not stop with New Hampshire. But attacks on abortion rights can be defeated with mass resistance, with women and gender-oppressed workers and supporters raising a collective voice to say: “We will not go back! Reproductive justice now!”
