Supporters of abortion rights rallied outside the New Hampshire State House Tuesday as part of a nationwide movement called "Stop the Bans."
Advocates from Planned Parenthood, the Equality Health Center and private citizens came together holding signs. Some wore pink hats from the Women's March and red costumes from The Handmaid's Tale. The rally is in response to a wave of anti-abortion legislation in several states, including Alabama, Ohio and Georgia. Some abortion opponents are pushing these laws to try to reach the Supreme Court to challenge the 1973 pro-choice ruling in Roe v. Wade.
Susmik Lama was among those in the crowd. She lives in Philadelphia, but has family in New Hampshire.
“I don’t think men should be controlling women's bodies, including government," she said. "It’s a choice that women should be making as an individual. It’s their body. It’s their right. It’s their choice."
Caroline Riffle, a woman from Peterborough, also joined the rally. She attends college in Missouri, a state that is close to passing a ban on abortion at around eight weeks of pregnancy.
"Being (in Missouri) is really scary as a person who could need an abortion," said Riffle. "It's terrifying to think that I would have to miss that much class, spend that much money and face that much nonsense if that was to happen to me or one of my friends or someone I love."
New Hampshire’s Democratic U.S. senators sent representatives to speak in support of pro-choice legislation.
A spokesman for Gov. Chris Sununu, a two-term Republican, tells NHPR that the governor supports Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that established a woman's right to abortion.
