NH abortion laws unchanged, but decision opens door for bans

Jun. 26—New Hampshire's abortion laws will not change in the days after the Supreme Court's historic decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, meaning abortion remains legal here until the 24th week of pregnancy.

Gov. Chris Sununu stressed New Hampshire's only abortion restriction is the ban on abortions after 24 weeks, which he signed in June 2021. New Hampshire is not among the states with old abortion bans still on the books from before the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, and has no bans designed to snap into place with the overturn of Roe.

"Regardless of this Supreme Court decision, access to these services will continue to remain safe, accessible, and legal in New Hampshire," Sununu said in a statement.

"But that can change," said Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, speaking during a Friday demonstration for abortion rights in the Queen City.

Abortion rights advocates, including the state's leading Democrats, demonstrated in nine cities around the state on Friday evening. Hundreds of people gathered to protest the court's decision and call for a state law to codify abortion rights in New Hampshire.

Protesters said Friday that they were eager to get involved, and attending demonstrations felt like a first step, as well as an outlet for frustration.

"We can't just sit around and not do anything," said Sara Bee Pichette of Manchester, who brought her five-month-old, Skadi Pichette, to the Manchester protest.

The Friday decision overturning Roe v. Wade did not change the law in New Hampshire and abortion remains legal here until the 24th week of a pregnancy, explained Kayla Montgomery, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.

"Prior to Roe v. Wade, we had a patchwork of abortion access," Montgomery said. "By overturning Roe, we are going back to that same situation, where we have a patchwork."

Abortion remains legal in states that did not have existing laws banning the procedure, including in New Hampshire.

But lawmakers in 13 states adopted anti-abortion laws in recent years, designed to take effect on the overturn of Roe. Another 13 states have old laws restricting abortion still on the books.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen signed the repeal of New Hampshire's old abortion ban in 1997, when she was governor.

On Friday, Shaheen said in a statement that banning abortion in some states would not end abortion.

"It won't stop abortions from happening — it will just make them dangerous and potentially deadly. I remember what it was like before Roe," Shaheen said in a statement. "I had friends who sought back-alley abortions. We cannot go back..."

Fragile position

New Hampshire is the only New England state without a law granting the same abortion protections as contained in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

On Friday, Democratic politicians and progressive activists underlined the fragility of legal abortion in New Hampshire without such a law.

All 10 state Senate Democrats authored a letter late Friday afternoon, urging Sununu to call lawmakers back into session so they could act on pro-abortion rights legislation.

State Sen. Tom Sherman of Rye, the Democratic candidate for governor, said Sununu claims he supports abortion rights, but the abortion ban he signed contained no exceptions for rape or incest.

Sununu has since supported legislation to add those exceptions to the 24-week abortion ban, but the GOP-led House and Senate rejected attempts to adopt them.

When House Democrats tried in May to suspend their rules to adopt a bill with Roe v. Wade protections, House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, said it was just "political grandstanding."

Osborne, who supports further restrictions on abortion, praised the court's ruling but said there was no immediate need for lawmakers to take action.

"While today's ruling returning complete authority over abortion back to the states where it belongs is a great triumph for federalism, it does nothing to change the accessibility of these services in New Hampshire," Osborne said.

A move to pass a bill codifying Roe v. Wade failed on a 12-12 vote in the state Senate last spring.

Jason Hennessey, president of New Hampshire Right to Life (NHRTL), said abortion opponents in the Legislature should continue working to adopt further restrictions.

"NHRTL calls on all those who value human rights to pray and work to protect the rights of the preborn here in New Hampshire," Hennessey said.

Lawmakers can begin to introduce new legislation on this topic for the 2023 session this September.

Election issue

New Hampshire's four members of Congress, all Democrats, warned of the possibility of a federal ban on abortions, should Republicans win control of Congress in this fall's elections.

Both U.S. Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas, D-N.H., voted for a bill to enshrine abortion rights protection into federal law.

Pappas conceded that it was unlikely the Congress will reach consensus on the issue and urged voters to send more abortion rights backers to Washington.

"If we are going to undo the damage the court is inflicting on women and families, the election this November is the place to start," Pappas said in a statement.

Candidates for state and federal elections said abortion would be a key issue going into the November elections.

Shoshanna Kelly, the Nashua alderman running for Executive Council in the Fifth District, said the leak of the Supreme Court's decision in May galvanized her intent to run for council against incumbent Republican David Wheeler.

At the Manchester rally, Pappas pointed to Justice Clarence Thomas' concurring opinion in the Friday decision, which alluded to the justice's interest in reexamining other decisions that give a right to birth control, banned laws against consensual same-sex relations, and made same-sex marriage legal across the country.

"The Supreme Court has told us nothing is sacred when it comes to basic rights," Pappas said. "But we've got to reassert that."

Attempts to pass pro-abortion rights legislation is doomed to fail in the U.S. Senate because the filibuster rule means it needs the support of at least 60 of the 100 senators.

Sen. Maggie Hassan warned that Republican leaders in Congress want to impose national restrictions on abortion. "Make no mistake, the end of Roe is not the ultimate goal of anti-choice extremists: Mitch McConnell has made it clear that the ultimate objective is to ban abortion nationwide," Hassan said.

"Our most important objective must be to hold the line against any efforts to enact a nationwide ban that would send a woman and her doctor to jail for having an abortion."

Staff Reporter Josie Albertson-Grove contributed to this report.