New Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte reiterated in her inaugural address her refusal to support any strengthening of the state's 24-week abortion limit.
CONCORD, New Hampshire (LifeSiteNews) – Republicans in New Hampshire have proposed legislation to ban late-term abortions, but new Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte has already pledged to veto any further strengthening of the Granite State’s abortion laws.
Abortion is currently legal up to 24 weeks in New Hampshire for any reason, and after when deemed necessary to save a woman’s life (which medical experts attest it never is) or for “fatal fetal anomalies.” House Bill 476 would move the cutoff for elective abortions from 24 weeks to 15 weeks with the same exceptions.
“Any health care provider who knowingly performs or induces an abortion in violation of this subdivision and knows that the fetus has a gestational age of at least 15 weeks, or consciously disregards a substantial risk that the fetus has a gestational age of at least 15 weeks, shall be guilty of a class B felony and, in addition to any other penalties the court may impose, be fined not less than $10,000 and not more than $100,000,” the bill says.
More than 90% of abortions occur in the first trimester, meaning HB 476 would leave the vast majority of abortions untouched. But supporters argue every opportunity to reduce the number of abortions by any amount is worthwhile and that late-term bans highlight the extremism of the pro-abortion opposition.
However, the New Hampshire Bulletin reported that GOP legislative leaders had pledged before the election not to pursue any new abortion restrictions beyond current law and gave Ayotte a standing ovation for saying the same in her inaugural address.
“I know it’s been a few months since there have been all those ads on the TV, but if you send me legislation that further restricts access to abortion beyond our current law, I will veto it,” declared Ayotte, who was elected in November.
A former member of the U.S. Senate, Ayotte previously had a 100% pro-life voting record. New Hampshire Right to Life PAC did not support Ayotte in the Republican gubernatorial primary but endorsed her in the general election on the grounds that unlike her opponent, she would not make existing abortion law more permissive.
Last fall, the New Hampshire pro-life group Cornerstone Action commissioned a poll that found at least 60% of residents would support a 15-week abortion ban.
“It’s time that the people we elect to represent our interests in Concord stop parroting their party line and start listening to what the voters actually want,” Cornerstone's Shannon McGinley argued. “It isn’t just Democrats but New Hampshire’s own weakened Republican establishment that needs to rethink their position. Following an administration headed by the most pro-abortion GOP governor in U.S. history and the first to support the total legalization of late-term elective abortion, our new governor, Kelly Ayotte, has promised more of the same. That is not what the voters want or the level of protection our vulnerable preborn children deserve.”
Thirteen states currently ban all or most abortions. But the abortion lobby is working feverishly to cancel out those deterrents via deregulated interstate distribution of abortion pills, legal protection and financial support of interstate abortion travel, constructing new abortion facilities near borders shared by pro-life and pro-abortion states, making liberal states sanctuaries for those who want to evade or violate the laws of more pro-life neighbors, and enshrining abortion “rights” in state constitutions.
