For years, New Hampshire Democrats have claimed the state has an “abortion ban” — or as they often describe it, a “dangerous” ban on abortion — and they blame Republican Gov. Chris Sununu and the GOP legislature.
And for years, Republicans have pushed back, arguing it’s dishonest to say that a state that allows abortion for any reason for the first six months of pregnancy — and has exceptions for the woman’s health after that — “bans abortion.”
Now, Democratic presumptive presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, has weighed in.
She agrees with the New Hampshire GOP.
On July 29, Harris posted a video on X decrying Iowa’s new “fetal heartbeat” abortion law, banning the procedure once the fetus has a detectable heartbeat.
“This morning, more than 1.5 million women in Iowa woke up with fewer rights than they had last night because of another Trump Abortion Ban. In November, we will stop Trump’s extreme abortion bans at the ballot box,” Harris wrote. The video is headlined “Because of Donald Trump, 22 States Have Abortion Bans in Effect.”
As Union-Leader political reporter Kevin Landrigan noted on X, New Hampshire is notably absent from Harris’ list.
That is a messaging problem for Granite State Democrats, who continue to insist that New Hampshire Republicans are “anti-abortion extremists.”
But not, it seems, “extreme” enough to make the Harris campaign cut.
Harris’ husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, was in Concord Wednesday touting Harris’s pro-abortion-rights stance.
“Never would my mother … have imagined a world where she would have enjoyed more reproductive freedom than her granddaughter,” Emhoff said. “Here we are, two years later, and we have seen a devastating impact.”
Like the Harris campaign, New Hampshire Democrats are making abortion their top priority in the 2024 campaign.
“Make no mistake,” says New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley, “Gov. Sununu signed New Hampshire’s first modern abortion ban.”
U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan says gubernatorial candidate and former Senate President Chuck Morse “was the key architect of New Hampshire’s abortion ban.”
The two leading Democrats hoping to replace Sununu, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, frequently make the claim as well.
“This ban is dangerous to the women of our state, and it is a threat to the providers of our state. It undermines our entire maternal health care system,” said Warmington.
Recently New Hampshire Republicans have launched an effort to refute what they say are false claims. They point out the state allows abortion for any reason for the first six months of pregnancy, and has exceptions for the health of the mother after that. The state GOP has even launched a website, AbortionFactsNH, in an attempt to counter what it says are false claims designed to frighten voters.
According to the pro-abortion-rights Guttmacher Institute, New Hampshire is one of 19 states with a late-term abortion ban. Guttmacher includes deep-blue states like California, Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the same category.
Granite State Democrats insist that the GOP is champing at the bit to impose a far more restrictive ban, pointing to a “Republican bill” to ban abortion after 15 days. Republicans respond by noting the bill only received 11 votes from the 400 legislators.
This week the Democratic Governors Association launched a TV ad attacking GOP gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte on the abortion issue. She responded with an ad of her own.
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“We all know what they’re doing. Politicizing abortion to win votes. It’s wrong and it’s not New Hampshire,” Ayotte says in the ad. “The truth: In New Hampshire, women have the freedom to obtain an abortion for any reason in the first six months of pregnancy.
“In the last three months, our law allows abortion in cases of medical emergency. No matter what they say or how many times they say it as governor, I fully support and will not change New Hampshire’s abortion law,” Ayotte concludes.
A New Hampshire Republican operative speaking on background said the ad was effective.
“It’s refreshing to see Republicans go on offense and refuse to let Democrats beat them up in a corner on abortion. Republicans need to be rational, relatable and normal on this issue.”
