Senator Republicans Oppose Radical Abortion Legislation

CONCORD, NH – Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) and Senator Regina Birdsell (R-Hampstead), issued the following joint statement today on CACR 24, SB 567, and SB 575:

“This package of abortion legislation sponsored by our Democrat colleagues would radically change New Hampshire’s existing law. CACR 24 would provide all individuals in our state with unrestricted access to abortion up to the moment of birth. In addition, nowhere in CACR 24 is ‘individual’ defined, creating confusion and the possibility of ‘individual’ being applied to people of all ages and sexes. Our current law works and is supported by the majority of Granite Staters. This CACR would make New Hampshire an outlier in a very radical way,” said Senator Sharon Carson.

“SB 567 and SB 575 seek to ‘protect and expand’ abortions in our state. However, abortions are already protected in New Hampshire up to the 24th week. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England states on their website that abortion remains safe and legal in New Hampshire. Our law solely puts commonsense restrictions on abortions in the 7th, 8th, and 9th months of pregnancy. This aligns New Hampshire with 80% of our state who oppose late term abortions and 43 other states who do not allow abortions up until the moment of birth with no restrictions. These bills are unnecessary and too extreme for our state,” added Senator Regina Birdsell.

Background: CACR 24 would add to the constitution the following: “that an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course and shall not be denied or infringed.”

SB 567 would protect and expand access to abortion medications.

SB 575 would allow for legal protections for legal New Hampshire abortions and contraception care.