Kelly Ayotte’s Ally Introduces Legislation to Ban Abortion After Just 15 Days

Kelly Ayotte’s Ally Introduces Legislation to Ban Abortion After Just 15 Days

Republican state representatives in New Hampshire have introduced legislation to ban abortion after 15 days – with no exceptions for rape or incest – making it one of the most extreme and dangerous plans to ban abortion in the country. The legislation, House Bill 1248-FN, was sponsored by Republican state Senator Carrie Gendreau, who was one of Kelly Ayotte’s first endorsementsafter launching her campaign for governor and campaigned with Ayotte in August.

Ayotte has a long history of attacking abortion rights throughout her time in public office. In 2010, as a U.S. Senator, Ayotte called for Roe v. Wade to be overturned, and in 2014, she led a group of 33 Republican senators demanding a vote on a national abortion ban. Ayotte also called a regulation requiring most employers to cover costs of birth control “an unprecedented affront to religious liberty,” and has voted repeatedly to defund Planned Parenthood.

Ayotte isn’t alone in her extremism: fellow candidate and former state Senate President Chuck Morse was the architect of the state’s extreme ban on abortion that calls for civil and criminal penalties for doctors and health care professionals, including “up to seven years in prison and fines up to $100,000,” and voted against adding exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the child to the bill. Like Ayotte, Morse has also voted to defund Planned Parenthood, voted to allow pharmacists to refuse to prescribe patients birth control because of their own beliefs, and voted against a law that would protect patients from harassment while seeking reproductive health care.

New Hampshire is the only state in New England without proactive protections for reproductive freedom on the books. Senator Gendreau voted to oppose a constitutional right to abortion for Granite Staters this year.

“First, Kelly Ayotte called for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. Now, her allies in the state legislature are gearing up to enact one of the most extreme bans in our country – banning abortion after just 15 days with no exceptions for rape or incest,” said DGA States Press Secretary Emma O’Brien. “Supporting a ban on abortion after just 15 days – before most women even know they are pregnant – is not only extreme, but cruel and dangerous. It’s clear Ayotte will stop at nothing to further restrict Granite Staters’ access to abortion, and if given the chance, she would gladly sign this into law as governor.”

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