A bill that would have codified the right to reproductive health care services in New Hampshire — including contraception, abortion and assisted reproduction — was voted down 16-8 by the state Senate on Thursday.
The bill would also have offered protections for medical providers from being sued by other states for providing abortions and other reproductive health services to out-of-state patients.
Health professionals testified last month that the bill would help them choose New Hampshire as their state to practice, knowing they would be protected from litigation and that their work would not be criminalized.
“Labor and delivery units across New Hampshire are already facing increasing uncertainties as hospitals deal and struggle with staffing shortages, financial pressures and declining birth rates,” Sen. Debra Altschiller, a Democrat from Stratham who sponsored the legislation.
Sen. Daryl Abbas, a Republican from Salem, opposed the bill and said it would put New Hampshire in direct conflict with other states.
New Hampshire is the only state in New England that does not have a so-called shield law.
