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The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Where does that leave abortion access in N.H.?

Signs at the abortion rights rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Dan Tuohy / NHPR
Signs at the abortion rights rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, effectively ending the constitutional right to an abortion in the United States.

The ruling effectively puts abortion policy in the hands of the states. At this time, abortion remains legal up to 24 weeks in New Hampshire.

NHPR's Health and Equity Reporter Alli Fam and Senior Political Reporter Josh Rogers have been following the potential local effects of this decision. They spoke with NHPR's All Things Considered Host Julia Furukawa about local reactions to the decision and how future debates around abortion policy might look in New Hampshire.


Transcript

This has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Julia Furukawa: Alli, let's start with what you're hearing from reproductive health care providers in the state.

Alli Fam: When it comes to abortion access here in New Hampshire, they've kind of got two main messages. The first is that the abortion landscape is staying the same here in New Hampshire in the immediate future. While some other states have these so-called "trigger laws" on the books that can restrict or eliminate access to the procedure now that the court has overturned [Roe v. Wade], New Hampshire does not have any such laws. Here's Kayla Montgomery from Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, reminding people that abortion access remains unchanged right now in New Hampshire.

Kayla Montgomery: It is very important that everyone understands that here in New Hampshire, abortion remains safe and legal and accessible up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. But regardless of how much we remind people of that, there is no doubt that this decision is going to cause an incredible amount of confusion for patients.

Alli Fam: At the same time providers are trying to counter misinformation and that potential confusion, they're also expressing significant concern and raising the alarm that an abortion — something they see as vital health care — is not a constitutional right anymore, and that access could change in New Hampshire in the future if more restrictive laws are passed in coming legislative sessions.

Julia Furukawa: Josh, what are you hearing from conservatives and anti-abortion supporters about today's ruling?

Josh Rogers: Basically, they're pleased. And it is worth remembering for folks who oppose abortion rights, this ruling [has] for many of them been years in coming, and it's been a central part of their political life. As Alli noted, this ruling doesn't really change the lay of the land in New Hampshire in terms of what people needing abortions can and can't do. I did speak with one lawmaker who has opposed abortion rights and sponsored bills to limit them, Rep. Katherine Prudhomme O'Brien, of Derry. She told me she saw this ruling as more of a prelude to more debate more than anything else.

Katherine Prudhomme-O'Brien: I'm not out in the streets dancing and cheering, because this is still going to be a debate on the state level. I don't think that's going to change. It's going to be the same, maybe just more intense.

Julia Furukawa: For decades, New Hampshire effectively had no laws related to abortion. Then last summer, Republicans pushed through the 24-week ban, along with some other provisions. Josh, do you expect to see conservatives now push for further reductions in access to abortions or an outright ban?

Josh Rogers: That's hard to say. I mean, there were bills this session to tighten limits, and I think that they're going to be bills like that filed. And I think they would have been filed regardless of whether or not this ruling had come down or not.

It's worth remembering that Gov. [Chris] Sununu tried and failed to get the Republican-led Legislature to eliminate aspects of the 24-week ban that he signed, that he didn't like, to take them out of the law. He wanted the absence of a rape and incest exceptions addressed, for instance, and also wanted to eliminate criminal penalties for providers who perform unauthorized abortions. Those moves failed. What the governor has said is that the law we have now is basically where he believes people of New Hampshire are at.

House Majority Leader Jason Osborne has indicated that he's not looking to further tighten abortion laws. We'll see. Plenty of Republicans are. And Democrats are going to be backing bills to codify a right to abortion. They tried and failed to do that this year. Any action that's going to take place at the State House is going to be handled by the next Legislature. And this decision and this debate is going to animate campaign season — in some cases, it's going to decide who gets elected. So there's a lot on this, but it's kind of over the horizon in New Hampshire.

Julia Furukawa: Alli, you reported this month that access to medication abortion — that is, ending a pregnancy by taking pills — has actually increased in New Hampshire. Can you talk about that?

Alli Fam: Lawmakers recently got rid of the state's ultrasound requirement, and that mandated that every patient had to get an ultrasound prior to having an abortion in New Hampshire. That moved to eliminate that mandate, in combination with expanding access to telehealth and some recent federal regulatory changes to medication abortion access, all means that New Hampshire patients early in pregnancy can now actually get an abortion without ever having to set foot in a clinic. So, effectively, they can see a doctor via telehealth, since they no longer need that ultrasound in person, and then they could get the pills to end the pregnancy mailed to their door. That can really make the procedure more accessible for patients who maybe live in rural areas, or who perhaps would struggle to get time off from work or to find child care to actually go in for that appointment. And again, the fact that [Roe v. Wade] was overturned isn't changing any of that access here in New Hampshire.

Julia Furukawa: Josh, would you expect this now to be the central issue heading into some high profile elections this November? Gov. Chris Sununu is running for reelection. He's attempted to appeal to both sides on this issue. What could this ruling mean for his campaign this fall?

Josh Rogers: Well, you know, Democrats in every election have worked to cast Chris Sununu as being hostile to abortion rights, something he denies. But he signed the 24-week ban and in some circumstances, he's kind of bragged about doing so. So abortion politics with him are interesting. His bottom line is that he believes he's in the middle of this issue. In some ways, that's true.

Abortion rights has for years been a central issue for Democrats in New Hampshire — arguably the definitional issue — and this ruling is not going to do anything to tamp that down. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen put out a statement after the ruling, and I'm quoting here, she said: "Today we grieve. Tomorrow we fight." I think that's where a lot of Democrats in New Hampshire are, and Gov. Sununu and Republican lawmakers are going to be the targets of that sentiment all campaign season long.

Julia Furukawa: Alli, what can we expect in the weeks and months ahead from pro-abortion rights activists in New Hampshire?

Alli Fam: They've definitely been preparing for this to happen for months now. What I think will we'll start to see is them kind of putting into action some of the plans that they've had. One telemedicine abortion provider I spoke to is launching a new telehealth abortion fund to help pregnant people seeking those types of abortions to kind of tap into more financial support.

I think Josh is kind of touched on this already, but advocates and activists will be rallying around this as a political issue, and really urging people to elect more pro-abortion candidates and try to push to make abortion a right in New Hampshire law, which it is not right now. And then, on the ground, reproductive health clinics here that perform abortions are continuing to prepare for a potential increase in out-of-state patients who may be coming to get the procedure here in New Hampshire.

Julia Furukawa is the host of All Things Considered at NHPR. She joined the NHPR team in 2021 as a fellow producing ATC after working as a reporter and editor for The Paris News in Texas and a freelancer for KNKX Public Radio in Seattle.
Josh has worked at NHPR since 2000.
Mary McIntyre is a senior producer at NHPR.
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