CONCORD, NH (April 11, 2023) – NH’s Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to recommend rejecting two bills: HB224 (which would repeal the penalties for NH’s moderate, 6-month abortion ban) and HB88 (introduce a right to abortion in the law).
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Jason Hennessey, President of NH Right to Life, said: “The Senate Judiciary Committee today responded to the overwhelming weight of testimony in support of protecting mothers and preborn babies with the Fetal Life Protection Act by rejecting HB224 and HB88. Rather than offering real help to mothers in need, these bills offered only death.”
On HB224, Jason Hennessey said:
“HB224 tried to trick the legislature into legalizing risky late-term abortions for any reason by claiming that the FLPA’s penalties would worsen NH’s “maternity deserts” where mothers cannot obtain healthcare. Once you dig a little, this doesn’t make sense. The facts are: 1) NH is one of the few states with no current maternity deserts, 2) only a very small percentage of obstetricians do any elective abortions, and 3) almost all states ban the abortion of viable children. On top of that, elective abortion through birth is not only extreme to a super-majority of Granite Staters, but is only allowed in 7 countries in the world, including N. Korea and China.
The FLPA only stops the killing of healthy children who could be delivered immediately and left at the hospital under our Safe Haven law.
The Senate Judiciary members rejecting HB224 should be commended for seeing it for the extreme legislation that it is: legalized elective abortion through birth.”
Sources for the quote above include:
1) https://www.marchofdimes.org/maternity-care-deserts-report
2) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010782417305218
3) https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/state-policies-later-abortions
Super-majority of Granite Staters agree with some abortion restrictions: https://www.anselm.edu/sites/default/files/Documents/NHIOP/Polls/SACSC_NHSW_0822_Book1.pdf
NH Right to Life’s testimony on HB224 goes much deeper into this, and is available upon request.
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On HB88, Jason Hennessey said:
“HB88 would codify injustice into our laws by saying that some people do not deserve the rights that others have. The bill is also legally questionable, in that it attempts to bind future legislatures without being part of the constitution.”
Some have suggested that HB88’s imprecise wording could be interpreted to allow anyone to end anyone else’s pregnancy.
NH’s Fetal Life Protection Act (the FLPA, RSA 329:43-50 ) protects viable, preborn babies at about 6 months (24 weeks), with exceptions for the life and health of the mother, as well as fatal fetal anomalies. Thus, the only abortions it prohibits are late-term elective abortions.
Links:
HB88: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=35
HB224: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=369&inflect=2
NH Right to Life is New Hampshire’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to the pro-life cause.
Contact:
Jason Hennessey
President, NH Right to Life
(603) 230-8136
life@nhrtl.org
