The majority leader of the New Hampshire House says the public should not expect Republicans in the Legislature to further tighten state abortion laws.
Rep. Jason Osborne of Auburn, who also led House Republicans last year when the state imposed a ban on abortion after 24 weeks, told the NH Journal podcast that he believes the limits on abortion adopted by the GOP-controlled Legislature reflects the views of the “vast majority” of people in the state.
“What we’ve settled on in New Hampshire is the 24-week mark, and after 24 weeks allowing exceptions for fetal anomalies, and I feel we’ve done a really good job of settling on that, even to the point where I thought the Democrats were calmed down about it, and then with this Supreme Court leak, it’s all blown up again,” Osborne said.
Republicans in the House earlier this year rejected a plan backed by Gov. Chris Sununu to add exceptions to the 24-week abortion ban in cases of rape or incest.
That proposal also sought to strip out felony penalties for medical providers who performed abortions after 24 weeks.
Osborne told NH Journal that while some Republicans in the House do favor imposing fresh limits on abortion in New Hampshire, the public would be mistaken to expect that to happen.
“My job is going to be to prove them wrong, that they are not going to see any more restrictions coming down the road on abortion,” Osborne said.
When Democrats in the House tried last week to enshrine a right to abortion up to 24 weeks in state law, Osborne moved to block its consideration, and derided the effort as “grandstanding over the outrage du jour.”
