CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire’s new ban on late-term abortions will barely have taken effect before Republican lawmakers start trying to enact further restrictions.
The state budget Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law in June contains a provision prohibiting abortion after 24 weeks of gestation, with exceptions for the mother’s life or physical health. It takes effect Jan. 1, just before the start of the new legislation session.
Republicans are drafting several abortion-related bills, including one that would prohibit the procedure after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. Another bill would allow the biological father of an unborn child to seek a court order prohibiting a woman from having an abortion. A third would repeal the prohibition on remaining on a sidewalk adjacent to an abortion clinic.
Democrats, meanwhile, have proposed several bills to repeal the new restrictions. They also want to include the right to make reproductive medical decisions a constitutional right.
