Seacoast Online: “NH Moms With Children Via IVF Watch Governor’s Race. Ayotte’s Record Raises Concerns.”

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Seacoast Online: “NH Moms With Children Via IVF Watch Governor’s Race. Ayotte’s Record Raises Concerns.”

Seacoast Online: “…during her time in the Senate, [Kelly Ayotte] consistently supported measures that would have limited access to IVF.”

A new report from Seacoast Online details former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte’s “long anti-abortion record,” which, as University of New Hampshire Professor of Political Science Dante Scala points out, dates “back to her time as U.S. senator” where she voted to restrict access to IVF and for religious exemptions for IVF and contraceptives, and led the charge for a national abortion ban and the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. As Scala reminds, “[Ayotte] could say now, I support the New Hampshire law as it is. But she’s taken a stance that’s been much more conservative than that.”

The report also features Granite State women and families who have relied on IVF to have children, and their concerns about the future of IVF in the state should Kelly Ayotte get anywhere near the governor’s office this November.

Please see below for key quotes from the Seacoast Online report, or view the full story here.

  • “…Ayotte’s record in the U.S. Senate is different than her current stated view.”
  • “In 2011, [Ayotte] co-sponsored the Protect Life Act, which would’ve restricted the universal access to IVF under the Affordable Care Act by allowing health care providers to refuse to provide any health care service to which they object.”
  • “In 2012, [Ayotte] co-sponsored Sen. Roy Blunt’s Blunt’s amendment, which would’ve allowed employers to refuse to cover health services like IVF and contraceptives through religious exemption.”
  • “‘She has a long anti-abortion record, dating back to her time as U.S. senator,’ said UNH associate professor of political science Dante Scala of Ayotte. ‘She could say now, I support the New Hampshire law as it is. But she’s taken a stance that’s been much more conservative than that.’”
  • “…Ayotte said that she supports New Hampshire’s law that prohibits abortions after 24 weeks except in certain cases. But as senator, Ayotte pushed for a 20-week abortion ban in 2014. She supported the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and has pushed for parental notification laws in the Senate and as New Hampshire attorney general.”
  • “Scala thinks abortion, now closely tied to IVF, will be a big motivator in the New Hampshire governor’s race in November, just like it was in the midterms in 2022.”

 

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