Shaheen Statement As NH GOP Anti-Women, Anti-Choice Laws Take Effect
(Manchester, NH) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) issued the following statement in response to new anti-women, anti-choice laws spearheaded by State Republicans and signed into law by the Governor that take effect on January 1. The laws include a ban on abortions and unnecessary, costly ultrasounds.
“No one should be allowed to tell a woman when or how to start a family. Tragically, New Hampshire Republicans think they have that right and ushered through dangerous new laws that take effect today that attempt to control women’s bodies and their most personal health decisions. It is jarring to see these radical, anti-woman policies make their way to New Hampshire and every effort must be made to mitigate the damage New Hampshire Republicans have caused,” said Shaheen. “We’ve borne witness to sweeping attacks on women’s health that touch every corner of the country, and take health decisions that women should make in consultation with their doctors and hashes them out in State Houses, Congress and now the Supreme Court. These are personal decisions; these are medical decisions that should be decided by women and those they trust. For fifty years, the Supreme Court deemed that the law of the land. But now, New Hampshire Republicans – and Republicans across the country – are trying to turn back the clock. We can’t let them. I’ll continue to find ways to help our family planning centers on the frontlines and increase women’s access to the reproductive care services they need and deserve. As long as these attacks keep coming, I’ll keep fighting back.”
New Hampshire Republican lawmakers’ egregious attacks on women’s health have been further exacerbated in recent days by the Executive Council, which doubled down on its decision to defund New Hampshire family planning providers throughout the state. Three of the providers defunded by the Executive Council provide approximately 80 percent of family planning services in New Hampshire.
In response to these unprecedented attacks on New Hampshire women’s health and personal decisions, Shaheen and the congressional delegation have fought to make available federal funding to offset the funds stripped or denied to providers by State Republicans. Following calls from the delegation, the Biden administration announced in October that it will make available $256,000,000 for Title X providers for fiscal year (FY) 2022. Title X funding is critical for New Hampshire family planning providers that have been decimated by the previous administration’s Title X Gag Rule, leaving seven of nine New Hampshire providers without access to Title X funding. Providers have until January 11, 2022 to apply. In June, Senator Shaheen sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra urging him to provide support to New Hampshire family planning providers who will lose state funding under State Republican’s New Hampshire budget bill.
Last month, Shaheen authored an op-ed for Seacoast Online about what’s at stake for women in New Hampshire and across the country as the U.S. Supreme Court considers Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case that could overturn Roe v. Wade.
