On the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, New Hampshire Republican leaders gathered at the State House in Concord to plant their political flag with the state’s current abortion law. And they’re putting money where their message is, too.
“We’ve pivoted away from talking about it in the past,” New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Chris Ager said Monday. “Those days are over. We are going to put the facts on the table.”
NHGOP chair Chris Ager and a group of Republican women hold a State House press conference on the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision.
The issue, Republicans say, is Democrats’ repeated claim that New Hampshire has an “abortion ban” which has misled many voters. On Monday, the state party released a 30-second ad rebutting that claim, laying out the facts about the state’s abortion law: Abortion for any reason during the first six months of pregnancy, and health exceptions during the final trimester. The party also unveiled a new website, www.abortionfactsNH.org.
The state party plans to put a “six-figure” budget behind the ad, party sources say.
“We believe this will be a net positive issue for Republicans, and that’s why we’re spending money on it,” Ager said. The party has also formed an all-female task force made up of women “predominantly under the age of 40” dedicated to engaging voters and fighting Democrats’ misinformation.
“We encourage all voters who are passionate about this issue to learn the facts and tune out the fear-based rhetoric of the Democrats,” said state Rep. Jodi Nelson (R-Derry) one of several Republican women who spoke at Monday’s press conference.
Samantha Faucher, treasurer of the Manchester Republican Committee, called out Democratic gubernatorial candidate Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington.
“Cinde Warmington has called the [state’s current] law ‘dangerous’ and promises to repeal it, which would make us one of only five other states with no late-term restrictions at all,” Faucher said. “Cinde, let’s be real — you’re the dangerous one.”
Warmington and her fellow Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, both support ending any restrictions on abortion at any point during a pregnancy. They have both pledged to work to repeal the state’s current late-term abortion law.
In addition to defending the state’s existing law, Republicans also want to go on offense with the argument that Democrats are obsessing over the abortion issue because they’ve failed on everything else: Inflation, illegal immigration, energy, and public safety.
“They have to run on this issue because they have nothing else,” said Faucher. “These out-of-touch Democrats have nothing else but lies, deceit, gaslighting, and fear-mongering.
“We’re not falling for it anymore.”
Sayra DeVito, a Republican state rep candidate from Danville, said “financial concerns” drive many women to turn to abortion. She said Republicans are “committed to improving our economy and creating an environment where women feel comfortable and secure to have a family.”
State Sen. Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) said Democrats’ pro-abortion stance is so extreme, they’ve even refused to allow New Hampshire to join the 46 states and the District of Columbia that collect basic public health data on abortion statistics in the state.
State Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry)
Asked about Democrats’ claims that the NHGOP’s ad campaign is a “desperate act to change the narrative,” Carson shot back that “the desperation is quite frankly on the other side.”
Ager was asked about the state GOP’s party platform, which calls for a ban on publicly-funded abortions and holds that “life is sacred, from conception to natural death” and that “we cannot diminish the value of one category of human life without diminishing the value of all human life.”
“We don’t legislate our personal opinions,” Ager said. “We don’t want to impose our personal opinions on everyone. It’s a whole different approach to say, ‘Now I’m going to legislate it under the force of law.’”
During Monday’s press conference, held at the foot of the New Hampshire State House, a small crowd of pro-abortion activists was holding a counter-demonstration along Main Street.
The group proceeded to march toward the press conference after it ended.
“They have a point that they want to make, and I get it — we’re arguing against their point, but they’re misleading people,” Carson told NHJournal. “It’s about, of course, raising money for their party and to keep lying.”
Carson spotted several young children among the group of protesters.
“Why are they exposing kids to this?” she asked.
