CONCORD, N.H. — State lawmakers are fighting a proposal that would ban abortions in New Hampshire after 15 days gestation, and said Monday they plan to introduce a constitutional amendment protecting the right to abortion in the Granite State.
The proposal would enshrine the right to abortion up to 24 weeks in the state constitution, allowing only abortions deemed “necessary” by a doctor after that point. The state’s current law allows abortions up to 24 weeks, with exceptions to protect the life of the mother or if the fetus receives a fatal diagnosis.
The proposed constitutional change would take abortion decisions out of the hands of politicians and instead give control to doctors, according to Kayla Montgomery, vice president for public affairs of the state’s Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
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“While abortion is currently safe and legal in New Hampshire, to date, New Hampshire lawmakers have refused to make abortion an explicit right,” said Representative Amanda Elizabeth Toll, a Keene Democrat sponsoring the legislation, in a written statement. “Right now that means that we have zero state or federal protections in place that safeguard the right to an abortion.”
Debate over state law governing abortion has intensified after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court last summer, putting the power of regulating abortions in the hands of state lawmakers.
A constitutional amendment requires a three-fifths vote from both the House and the Senate before it’s put to New Hampshire voters during the November 2024 election. Two-thirds of those voting on the measure must support it for it to pass.
Two Republican representatives joined the 11 Democrats sponsoring the legislation: Susan Vandecasteele of Salem and Brandon Phinney of Rochester.
Asked if he would support the effort, a spokesperson for Governor Chris Sununu referred the Globe to a statement he made last summer.
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“I have made clear I support codifying Roe v. Wade into law, and stand ready to sign a bill once it reaches my desk,” he said.
Sununu describes himself as pro-choice, although abortion rights advocates have criticized that description since he signed a 24-week abortion ban into law in 2021.
But Sununu was quick to dismiss the bill sponsored by four House Republicans that emerged last week, prohibiting abortion other than for a medical emergency after 15 days of gestation, at which point the embryo is about the size of a poppy seed and most women do not yet know they are pregnant. It would amount to an outright ban on abortion, which is unlikely to pass in New Hampshire.
“I think it’s safe to say we are putting this one in the crazy pile,” Sununu said in a written statement. Other members of Republican House leadership dismissed the proposed ban, noting it would not gain the support required to become law.
Senator Carrie Gendreau, whose extremely conservative Christian views sparked controversy in Littleton after she spoke against LGBTQ+ artwork, is among the lawmakers supporting the 15-day ban.
“I don’t see this bill going anyplace,” Republican House Speaker Sherman Packard said on WFEA Radio last week.
“We’re happy with what we have, with the ban at 24 weeks,” he said.
One Republican representative who had initially signed on in support of the measure withdrew her support days after the proposal became public.
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“HB 1248 does not represent the voice of my constituents. I have withdrawn my name as a co-sponsor,” said Kristine Perez, a Londonderry Republican, in a Facebook post. Perez said she was told the bill would be a 15-week ban and that she didn’t review the proposal before granting her support. Gendreau and Representatives Dave Testerman and John Sellers are still listed as sponsors of the legislation.
AN APOLOGY HB 1248 does not represent the voice of my constituents. I have withdrawn my name as a co-sponsor. When I...
Posted by Kristine Perez for NH State Rep on Wednesday, December 6, 2023
“This was my mistake and admittedly a grave one,” Perez said. “I trusted but did not verify but this is not being offered as an excuse.”
She said multiple constituents voiced support for a 15-week limit and apologized for supporting the 15-day ban.
“Although I am pro-life, I have said since first announcing my run for Representative that I would not have a personal agenda but instead be your voice,” she said. “I am truly sorry that I potentially misrepresented your voice.”
The bill did not garner the support of Cornerstone Action, an anti-abortion Christian advocacy group that criticized both the bill and its prime sponsor.
“Chief sponsor Rep. Dave Testerman has a long track record last year of not even showing up for the hearings on his own frivolous bills,” the advocacy group said in a social media post. The post said the group will focus on protecting the current 24-week ban “from continual attacks by state Democrats and the abortion lobby to return our state to unlimited abortion up to birth.”
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We are aware of the bill proposed by some Republican legislators to amend the state's Fetal Life Protection Act to change abortion restrictions from 6 months to 15 days. Our efforts have been and will continue to be to protect the current 6 month law from continual attacks by…
— Cornerstone Action (@nhcornerstone) December 7, 2023
Reproductive health care providers and reproductive health advocates praised Monday’s proposal to put protections for abortion access into New Hampshire’s constitution.
“At a time when access to abortion is increasingly under threat, this constitutional amendment is an important and a necessary step to safeguard reproductive rights in New Hampshire and to put the decision in the hands of patients and health care providers — not politicians,” Montgomery said in a written statement, noting that 22 states have banned abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
She urged lawmakers to pass the constitutional amendment, as did leadership from two medical centers that provide abortions: Lovering Health Center in Greenland and Equality Health Center in Concord.
This past year, at least two efforts to enshrine abortion rights in New Hampshire state law failed, including House Bill 88, which was rejected on a 14-10 party-line vote in the Senate, and CACR 2, a constitutional amendment that received a 193-191 vote in the House, falling short of the three-fifths required to advance.
Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her @amanda_gokee.