Access to abortion aligns with New Hampshire values

NH has a long, bipartisan history of supporting privacy when it comes to personal medical decisions. Until recent years, this tradition included access to abortion care. After anti-abortion lawmakers passed NH’s first modern abortion ban in 2021 and the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, Granite Staters’ future access to abortion care is uncertain. The NH Legislature has an opportunity to ensure all Granite Staters retain the fundamental right to bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom by passing a constitutional amendment to add the right to an abortion to the NH constitution. A constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to abortion would add critical protections explicitly into the NH Constitution and make it difficult for politicians to restrict our reproductive rights and freedoms.

It would give greater protection from absurd bills currently before the legislature like HB 1248 which bans abortion at 15 days, before most people know they are pregnant and before most pregnancy tests would even be accurate. NH needs to give voters the power to ensure that reproductive health care decisions are made between patients and their doctors, not politicians. The majority of Granite Staters support abortion rights, and they do not believe that the government should interfere in an individual’s ability to make personal decisions. They should be allowed to demonstrate NH’s values of individual freedom and self-determination by voting to amend our state constitution! Contact your lawmakers today and urge them to support a constitutional amendment to protect abortion access.

Diane Siegart

Thornton