State legislators hold off on adding abortion rights to laws

May 24-- May 24--Amid a wave of restrictive new abortion laws across the country, New Hampshire legislators say they're holding off on codifying abortion rights in the Granite State.

"I've heard from constituents who have asked ... can we institutionalize a woman's right to choose into state law and into the state constitution?" state Rep. Craig Thompson, D-Harrisville, said Thursday. "The immediate reaction a lot of people have (to the recent restrictions) is, 'Let's not have that happen here.' "

Those constituent concerns are in reference to states like Alabama, where a new law signed last week would ban abortion even in cases of rape or incest, and would jail doctors for at least 99 years for performing one. Other states with new abortion restrictions include Ohio, Utah, Kentucky, Georgia, Arkansas and Missouri.

In New Hampshire, there are no legal restrictions on abortion, but Medicaid does not cover the procedure in the state, nor is private insurance required to.

Thompson said an effort from this session to outline abortion protections in the state constitution did not make it far enough to get a bill number, but that the measure will be back in the next legislative session.

In the meantime, the Harrisville Democrat noted that Granite Staters' penchant for protecting individual liberties tends to keep restrictions like in the Alabama law at bay.

Yet legal scholars and even some Republicans have said the ultimate goal of bills like the one in Alabama is to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that protects a woman's right to an abortion under the 14th Amendment's Due Process clause. The decision also established a constitutional "right to privacy" under the same amendment.

Now that the composition of the Supreme Court has shifted with Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, a legal challenge to one of the new state laws could reach the court and change abortion's constitutional protections.

In a preemptive measure, New York codified the Roe decision into state law earlier this year, and Vermont's Republican Gov. Phil Scott announced this week that he will not veto a similar bill, which will allow abortion protections to become law with or without his signature.

Protracted battle likely

For former Portsmouth mayor and two-time Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Marchand, codifying Roe in state law should be an urgent priority.

Marchand, who told The Sentinel recently that he is considering a third run for governor in 2020, held a news conference on the matter this past week in Concord, and said he's surprised there has not been a greater effort to codify abortion protections at the Statehouse.

"A growing number of states are understanding that Roe is under serious attack, and that we as states better act proactively in that context," Marchand said. "Because it comes down to this: In 2019, if you're not playing offense, then you're playing defense."

But Senate Majority Dan Feltes, D-Concord, said that while attorneys and advocates are looking into feasible protections for abortion rights in New Hampshire, efforts could be better spent on improving resources and access to reproductive health care.

"I am confident that the bipartisan majority in the Legislature will continue to do everything we can to fight back against efforts to roll back women's health care, efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, efforts to undermine a woman's right to choose and continue to work with members of both parties in the Legislature to strengthen all of those efforts," Feltes said Wednesday.

Sen. Jay V. Kahn, D-Keene, whose district covers much of Cheshire County, said that while the long-term court battles play out, Granite State lawmakers can work to improve access to services.

One bipartisan measure Thompson pointed to is a Colorado initiative that saw a 20 percent reduction in teen pregnancies by increasing access to contraceptives like intrauterine devices, or IUDs. By increasing access to contraception and reproductive health services, Thompson argued, abortion could become rarer.

On the Republican side of the aisle, abortion rights don't appear as threatened in New Hampshire as elsewhere in the country.

When she's in Concord, state Sen. Ruth Ward, R-Stoddard said she has not perceived much of an appetite from fellow Republicans to pursue any additional restrictions, and not anything close to the Alabama law.

Ward told The Sentinel that even though she identifies as "pro-life," she still thinks exceptions should be made in cases of rape, incest, and the mother's life, and that the Alabama bill "is going too far in one direction."

As for Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, his office issued a short statement to The Sentinel Tuesday when asked if he's in favor of enshrining abortion rights.

"Governor Sununu supports Roe v. Wade," the statement reads.

When asked again whether he would support codifying Roe or taking any other action, the governor's office did not respond.

Meanwhile, as states grapple with the changing landscape of the Supreme Court, Kahn said the ideal solution would be for Congress to establish a federal standard for abortion law.

"This is not something to roll back and have a state-by-state determination of a woman's rights," Kahn said. "That is completely in the wrong direction. ... We need a national standard."

Jake Lahut can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1435, or jlahut@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @JakeLahut.

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