Article Summary: Awesome turnout for Life last week; 10x the size of the abortion rights folks! This Wed, Jan 29, has hearings for 4 pro-life bills; Wed, Feb 12, has a hearing for a “Death with Dignity” act that could endanger the terminally ill. Details below.
Photo: Beth Scaer
After seeing the crowds last week, the Concord Monitor said: “The national fights around abortion have come to Concord”.
We made it clear from the turnout at the CACR 14 hearing last week that New Hampshire does not want expanded abortion rights! At least 200 pro-lifers took time out of their busy lives and off work to speak against enshrining genocide in our state constitution. Of the 51 members of the public who spoke, 4 were in favor, and 47 against: a 10x difference! The crowd was so large that the hearing had to move to the Representatives Hall, where NH’s 400 House members sit when in session. Pray that this was a foreshadowing: that God will place many people who care about Life in those seats!
Some of the testimonies were so personal and moving that it was hard not to shed a few tears. One story was about a mother who was pregnant as a teenager. She likely would have gotten an abortion had it been legal and if her family wasn’t so against it, but instead she delivered a daughter and surrendered her for adoption. Many years later, she connected with her daughter and found out she had been raised by a loving adoptive family. Today, many years later, that pregnant teenager is not only a grandmother, but also a great-grandmother to 2. Had it not been for society’s protection of the unborn, 5 people who are alive wouldn’t be!
This Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee has conveniently scheduled the 4 major pro-life bills to all be heard on the same day, starting at 10am. After our showing last week, the hearings were all moved to Reps Hall! Let’s show them that people in NH continue to care about promoting Life!
Two bills in particular could help sway those who are not yet on our side by demonstrating the absurdity of having the right to kill (you can find an overview of all bills on the NHRTL website):
- HB1675 (1pm) requires that medical care be given to any baby born alive. Kermit Gosnell was convicted of actively murdering babies that were born after botched abortions. What about the babies who are left to die through passive means?
- HB1678 (2pm) Forbids abortions that are made solely on the basis of gender or disability discrimination. As a data point, in Denmark & Iceland, almost 100% of babies with Down Syndrome are aborted. In the US, one estimate is that 67% are.
The other two are:
- HB1475 (10am) extends legal protection to All babies when the heartbeat is detected without exception.
- HB1640 (11am) deletes the “Judicial bypass” option for minors seeking abortion, and requires at least one parent be notified before the abortion occurs. Parents often save their children and grandchildren from abortion.
If you aren’t able to make it in person, you can email the House Judiciary Committee at and let them know that you agree with protecting the unborn through these bills!
Please mark your calendars for Thurs, Feb 6 @ 6pm for a forum at the Manchester Library Auditorium, where NHRTL and other pro-life activists will discuss the less-told side of the Dartmouth/CMC story: how this merger has been tried before; how abortion in NH would benefit; how combinations like this typically result in 10-50% increases in healthcare costs.
On Wed, Feb 12 @ 1pm, the House Judiciary Committee will be hearing testimony on HB1659, sometimes known as the “Death with Dignity act”, which allows doctors to prescribe “medication for the purpose of ending such person’s life” for those with “an incurable and irreversible disease that has been medically confirmed and will, within reasonable medical judgment, produce death within 6 months”. Please stay tuned for more on this!
Want to help in the pro-life fight? Volunteer with us or donate at nhrtl.org.
Jason Hennessey
Trustee & President, NHRTL
