NH Senate rejects abortion bills

The New Hampshire Senate today rejected two pro-abortion bills. “Inexpedient to legislate” (ITL) motions on HB 88 and HB 224 were adopted 14-10 along party lines, with Republicans in the majority.

I carry no brief for the GOP, but if your senator is one of those Republicans, I’d say now is the time for a thank-you message.

HB 224 would have nullified the Fetal Life Protection Act, New Hampshire’s 24-week abortion limitation, by removing civil and criminal penalties on providers doing late-term abortions outside of the exceptions outlined in FLPA. HB 88 declared abortion “vital” to liberty and equality, and would have prevented future statutory limitations on abortion.

The votes were the culmination of intense lobbying and public engagement by pro-life Granite Staters. As reported earlier on this blog, the Senate public hearing on HB 224 attracted more than 40 speakers in opposition to the bill. People were rightly concerned.

In all my years of sending out email alerts to Leaven for the Loaf subscribers, I have never seen such high readership and so many forwarded messages as I did for the emails on these bills. People didn’t stop at reading; they acted.

Today’s vote kills the bills and prevents them from proceeding to Governor Sununu’s desk.

I’d like to think that’s it for this year’s abortion nonsense in Concord, but the state budget is now being crafted and the fine print bears watching. Remember that the Fetal Life Protection Act made it into law as a budget item (part of HB 2 in 2021). Just as pro-life policies can be inserted into the budget, so can abortion-friendly policies. I’ll keep an eye on that.

Act Now: Senate to vote Thursday April 13 on abortion expansion bill and “access to abortion care act”

Summary: State senators need messages from their constituents immediately, urging them to vote “inexpedient to legislate” on HB 224 and HB 88.

The New Hampshire Senate is expected to vote Thursday, April 13 on the Judiciary Committee’s recommendation of “inexpedient to legislate” (ITL) on HB 224 and HB 88. The votes will come only two days after the committee’s 3-2 ITL votes along party lines, with Republicans in the majority. 

HB 224 would strip penalties from the Fetal Life Protection Act, preventing late-term-abortion providers from facing any civil or criminal penalties for illegally aborting preborn children after 24 weeks’ gestation. If HB 224 passes, FLPA will be effectively nullified.

HB 88 declares abortion to be “vital” to liberty and equality, and would prevent enactment of any future legislation that would “restrict or interfere with” abortion.

Senators need to get the message before Thursday 4/13: vote ITL on HB 224 and HB 88. The “Who’s My Senator?” link on the General Court website will let you determine your senator’s name and contact information. Let your message be brief, clear, courteous, and immediate. Send a message even if you attended the hearings or used the online testimony system. 

HB 224-FN would expand abortion in New Hampshire, returning us to the days of legal unregulated abortion throughout pregnancy. Instead, voting ITL – inexpedient to legislate – will kill the bill. That’s the way to go.

If HB 88 passes, it would block any future legislation deemed to “restrict or interfere with” abortion. The sponsor calls it the Access to Abortion Care Act. Again, ITL is the right vote.

Do not assume that party lines will hold. Every senator needs to hear from pro-life constituents.

No bargaining: pro-life, period

HB 224 needs to be ITL’d. So does HB 88. Killing one and passing the other and calling that a “compromise” would be an unacceptable outcome. This is no time for horse-trading. Save that for the state budget.

Unlimited abortion as a recruiting tool?

The April 6 committee hearing on HB 224 was packed. The hearing lasted four hours. I stayed for one hour, which was more than enough to get the gist of the pro-HB 224 argument.

Chief sponsor Rep. Dan Wolf (R-Newbury) claimed that his “straightforward” bill was “about attracting [medical] providers” to New Hampshire. “We should not have draconian threats hanging over our doctors,” he said. Dr. Ilana Cass, Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, testified that FLPA makes it harder for her to recruit physicians. Other health care professionals expressed concern over the possibility of being considered criminals. Lobbyists from ACLU and New Futures sang different verses of the same tune.

The essence of the message conveyed by HB 224’s supporters was this: we need to recruit doctors who can abort viable healthy preborn children of healthy mothers, and who will do it with literal impunity – or who will stand by silently while their colleagues do so.

_{Pro-abortion demonstrators pose in front of the State House in Concord, 4/6/23. Ellen Kolb photo.}

Pro-lifers came out in force

Fortunately, the abortion advocates didn’t have the April 6 committee hearing to themselves. A half-hour before the hearing began, the room was already full, with dozens more people in the hallway outside. Once the hearing got underway, more than forty people testified against the bill, far outnumbering speakers in support. Pro-lifers did what they had to do: they turned out in force to defend FLPA and call for the defeat of HB 224. 

Pro-lifers also managed to find their way to the online testimony system, with 1353 people signing in as “opposed” to the bill. 

Even a self-identified pro-choice legislator couldn’t stomach the bill. Rep. Bob Lynn (R-Windham) is a former New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice. Although the House was in session upstairs as the Senate hearing unfolded, Rep. Lynn took time to testify against HB 224, saying “I’m a pro-choice person” but that he wasn’t in favor of making abortion legal until the moment of birth. He said the bill creates “special rules for doctors.” Rep. Lynn was accompanied by his Windham neighbor, Rep. Katelyn Kuttab, who stressed that HB 224 was about “aborting viable healthy babies.”

_{Standing room only outside hearings on HB 224 and HB 88. Ellen Kolb photo.}

HB 88 hearing

The HB 88 hearing didn’t begin until the one for HB 224 had ended on April 6 – meaning it didn’t get started until a little before 6 p.m. Few of the grassroots pro-lifers who had taken time from work and family to come to the State House could stay that long. There’s a danger that senators will look at the relatively low attendance and assume that HB 88 is somehow less offensive than HB 224. 

It’s not. Both bills deserve to be killed decisively.

Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearing on HB 224 and HB 88 Thursday April 6

Having passed the New Hampshire House, two pro-abortion bills will get a public hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, April 6. The hearing is scheduled for room 100 of the State House in Concord. HB 224-FN is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and HB 88 for 1:30.

As a practical matter, there’s no way all the testimony on HB 224 -FN will be over in half an hour. I expect the dual hearings to last all afternoon. Showing up for the first hour will be important; there will be sign-up sheets near the door of the hearing room allowing attendees to sign their names & indicate opposition (or support) for each bill.

The bills

HB 224-FN would remove penalties from the Fetal Life Protection Act, New Hampshire’s recently-enacted 24-week abortion limitation. FLPA would thus become unenforceable and useless. HB 88 would declare abortion to be “vital to the equality and liberty of all individuals.” While the text of HB 88 leaves FLPA in place, that won’t matter if FLPA has no enforcement mechanism. HB 224-FN is more dangerous, given Governor Sununu’s expressed willingness to sign it.

In short, HB 224-FN will expand abortion in New Hampshire, returning us to the days of legal unregulated abortion throughout pregnancy.

Both bills ought to be ITL’d: voted “inexpedient to legislate” in committee and on the Senate floor.

What you can do

You can attend the hearing. Allow plenty of time to find parking. Wear good shoes, since you’re likely to be standing in the hall for however long you’re there. The hearing room doesn’t have a large capacity, and no one is allowed inside once the seats are filled – so the hallway will be occupied by people listening to the hearing online.

Right now, register your opinion on the Senate’s online testimony system. You do not have to provide a full statement. Clicking “oppose” is enough. Your name and position on the bill will be visible to the public. The Senate has a handy guide to the online system as well as how to submit testimony in person. Brief, courteous, and clear are always good rules to follow.

Contact your own state senator to express strong opposition to both bills, particularly HB 224-FN. Do not assume Republicans will see things your way; HB 224-FN has Republican co-sponsors. Also, I’ve heard from a voter that her Republican senator told her HB 224 isn’t that big a deal, since late-term abortions don’t happen here anyway.

(She said that with a straight face, despite knowing there’s no requirement to collect and report abortion statistics in New Hampshire. I wasn’t born yesterday. I’ve been around for all the stats bills that have gone down to defeat over the last 20 years or so. But I digress.)

If you email or write to your senator, be sure to mention that you live in that senator’s district. Provide your address for confirmation.

Printable handout with information on HB224-FN and the Senate process

Click on this link for a printable PDF with information on HB 224-FN and with contact information for all 24 senators: https://mcusercontent.com/a2d953b9f956aaa8e14accaac/files/bede0f41-a03b-674d-e64d-8266b3f46731/oppose_HB_224.pdf

Subscribers to the Leaven for the Loaf email updates have this PDF link already. If you’re not receiving the emails, you can sign up here.

Your tool kit for the 2023 legislative session

You live in New Hampshire, you’re pro-life, and you want your legislators to get the message. Here are the nuts-and-bolts of getting that job done with the help of the General Court website, which covers the state House and Senate. Bookmark this post so you can refer to it during this session.

I will create a separate page on this blog with the same information, so you can find it easily in the blog’s menu anytime.

No other voters in the nation are closer to their elected representatives than those of us in New Hampshire. Twenty-four senators, and 400 state representatives: you probably already know at least one of them for your town. If you don’t, it’s likely a simple matter to meet one. Take advantage of that.

Big change in 2023, reflecting the fact that the House is split 201-198: Most House committees are evenly split, with eight to ten members from each party. I expect some interesting outcomes.

By the way, I usually write “reps” rather than representatives. That does not reflect any disrespect for the position of a House member. It’s a matter of efficiency, not flippancy. When I’m flippant, you’ll know it.

If this information looks familiar, you’ve already got the tools. Let sharpen them.

Ways to communicate

• Face-to-face, neighbor to neighbor. In most states, with smaller representative bodies, this can be nearly impossible. In New Hampshire, it’s essential. Getting to know a rep as a neighbor, as someone whose kids go to the same school as yours, or as a town-team parent will yield benefits that go way beyond the representative-constituent relationship. When neighbor speaks to neighbor face-to-face about a problem, it’s personal.
• Face-to-face, constituent to representative. This is the next best way to build a relationship with your elected officials and thus to get your message across. As important as legislative hearings and floor sessions may be, that’s the tip of the iceberg as far as policy is concerned. Especially where the life issues are concerned, I’d say that 80% of elected officials have already made up their minds on a bill before the hearings ever begin. Private conversations long before the hearings have helped them form and cement their inclinations and beliefs. It’s imperative that you become part of those conversations.
• Phone calls. Keep them courteous and brief. Remember that for state reps, the phone number you see on the House roster is likely to be their cell number or even their home number. These people don’t have offices. Don’t abuse their openness to their constituents.
• Email. State-level elected officials get an overwhelming volume of email – as in “thousands” – when life-issue bills come up. Two things to remember: reps need to hear from you, and they’re not likely to read very far into an email. Properly used, email can get you on the record with a rep. Your subject line has to convey your message in just a few words, such as “from a constituent: please support HB xxx.” Always include your contact information in case the recipient wants to follow up.
• Handwritten letters and postcards. Next to private conversations, this may be the best way to express your concerns, especially if you have a story to tell or detailed information to convey. An email will be a drop in the bucket. A handwritten or printed message delivered with courtesy and compassion will have more impact. Think in terms of how you can make their jobs easier by equipping them with persuasive information and anecdotes.
• Participating in hearings online and/or in person. Sometimes, only showing up will do. A hearing on a critical piece of legislation is going to attract press and social media coverage, and don’t let any elected official tell you they don’t pay attention to that. Believe me, they do. Your presence at a hearing is a message in itself. So is your online sign-in. The pro/con numbers will be read into the record.

The basic legislative website: identifying members

Spend a few minutes exploring the General Court website (gencourt.state.nh.us). “General Court” is simply the formal name for the elected officials in New Hampshire’s legislative branch.

Note that a separate website operated by a non-government group, gencourtmobile.com, is also very handy, and has a feature letting you follow any piece of legislation throughout its process.

• New Hampshire House members page (gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members): you can select your town from a drop-down menu and find out the name and contact information for each of your state representative. Your town or ward might have only one rep or more than a dozen. Make sure you know who they are, regardless of party or voting record. Each and every one of them is accountable to you.
• New Hampshire Senate members (gencourt.state.nh.us/senate/members/wml.aspx): select your town from the drop-down menu to get your senator’s name and contact information. 
• Finding bills: the left side of the General Court homepage will help you look up a bill by its number, a keyword (text), or sponsor’s name. I’ll be covering certain bills in detail on this blog, but with hundreds actually under consideration, you might be interested in others. This General Court homepage is your portal to all of them.
• The House standing committees (gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/standingcommittees.aspx) page will give you a link to each policy committee – Education, Judiciary, Health and Human Services, and so on. That’s where to find the names of each committee member.
• Likewise, the Senate has a committee page (gencourt.state.nh.us/senate/committees/senate_committees.aspx). 

Calendars

The House and Senate calendars, published weekly in printable PDF format, list all the public hearings for the coming week. The calendars are usually available online on Thursday evenings. Each chamber (House and Senate) maintains a digital calendar as well. 

Starting this year, you can subscribe to have the calendars and journals delivered to your inbox as they’re published. Very handy. Look for the “subscribe” links on the House and Senate sites.

Hearings: in person and online

While you need to attend a hearing in person in order to offer spoken testimony, you can listen to hearings online. Click on the House or Senate digital calendar to find the committee or bill whose hearing you want, and you’ll find a link to the livestream.

Testifying on bills, and the critically-important remote sign-in procedure

If you want to give oral testimony to a committee, you need to get yourself to Concord. Your presence, especially with likeminded neighbors, can make a powerful statement even if you don’t say a word. That’s not your only way to testify, though.

You can sign up remotely online to register your opinion to committee members on a specific bill. This is a very important development in public participation, and it was triggered by the need for remote participation during Covid. During a hearing, the committee clerk will read aloud the tally of online sign-ins, pro and con. If a life-issue bill has 600 people registering one way and only 30 registering the other, that’s going to be news. 

Remote sign-in on a bill is available as soon as the bill is posted in the calendar, and you should sign in no later than 30 minutes before the scheduled start of a hearing to make sure the committee clerk has your name.

• Become familiar with the House sign-in form.
• Become familiar with the Senate sign-in form. The Senate site also provides detailed information on how to testify either in-person or remotely.

When you fill out the online sign-up form, you should get a confirmation page with instructions for submitting written testimony if you want to indicate more than simply support/oppose. 

Anyone – whether testifying in person, signing up remotely, or doing neither – can submit written testimony to any committee on a bill being heard by that committee. If you email the committee at its address (remember those committee pages I mentioned above), the message will automatically go to each committee member. You can also use postal mail sent to a committee or its individual members, which might make your message stand out. Every elected official is flooded with emails, particularly when the topic is a life issue.

Submitting testimony that can be read by the public

This is distinct from emailing the committee, as described in the previous paragraph. That can still be done, and your message will go to each committee member. The link in this paragraph will not only send your testimony to the committee but also make it readily available to the general public, where your personal stories and documentation will reach a larger audience.

Here is the link for submitting your public testimony:  http://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/remotetestimony/submitted_testimony.aspx

Brevity, clarity, charity

Here’s the classic threesome to keep in mind when you reach out to a legislator.

• Keep it brief. If you’re testifying in person, you’ll probably have no more than three minutes. If you have a relevant personal story, talk about that. Your written testimony can be longer, and it can include documentation or data to augment your spoken testimony. Once a bill gets to the full chamber for a vote and you’re contacting each one of your reps, it’s best to be brief once again. Let them know you’re happy to offer more information, but for the most part, they’ll only have time to read a short message. 
• Keep it clear. Your call to action needs to come first: “please support [bill number] or “please oppose [bill number].” Don’t say “vote yes” or “vote no” unless you’re absolutely certain on what motion a committee or chamber is voting on; a “yes” vote on an “inexpedient to legislate” motion is a vote to kill a bill. If you want a bill to pass, say “please support this bill.” If you want a bill to be killed, say “please oppose this bill.” 
• Keep it polite. Regardless of your feelings about a particular rep or the rep’s party, you’re talking to a neighbor whenever you communicate about a piece of legislation. Someday, your courteous message might be the one to spark a constructive one-on-one conversation with a rep who is usually not supportive of pro-life policy. Be courteous, say please, and send a thank-you when a rep gets a vote right. 

Take a State House tour – and allow time to find parking

At some point, take a State House tour! Our State House is on the small side, it could use some tech upgrades, and it is not a modern building. Don’t be put off: it’s a gem. At a minimum, if you’re up there, stop at the Visitor Center on the first floor. The team there can give you a brochure for a self-guided tour, or you can book a tour in advance. Street address: 107 North Main Street, Concord.

If you’re going to a hearing in the Legislative Office Building (LOB), it’s across State Street from the rear of the State House. Street address: 33 North State Street, Concord. 

There’s a pedestrian tunnel connecting the LOB and the State House, which can be handy if you have business in both places. There’s a cafeteria down there at the State House end.

Parking in Concord near the State House can be a challenge. However much time you think it’ll take to get to Concord, add another fifteen minutes for finding parking and then walking to the State House or LOB. The city of Concord has a web page dedicated to downtown parking which includes a map of parking areas along with information on the handy Pay by Phone app (requiring a smartphone). If you don’t use the smartphone app, be sure to bring quarters. The city enforces its parking regulations.

For more information, contact your reps

Constituents who wants to learn more about state government can ask one of their reps, after looking up a representative’s name and contact information. It’s a good thing when a rep realizes someone’s interested in the process. It’s also a good way to initiate a conversation with an elected official, if you’ve never done so before.

Your tool kit for for the ’22 legislative session

The New Hampshire General Court is back in business in Concord for 2022, and things look closer to normal in House and Senate than they did last year. Here are some links and information to help you get your pro-life messages across to your representatives. Bookmark this page for reference during the 2022 legislative session.

The basic site, starting with ID’ing your reps

The General Court website (gencourt.state.nh.us) is your guide to keeping up with legislative business in New Hampshire. Spend a few minutes exploring it. It’s been revamped since the beginning of the last session, so it might look different than you’re used to. Same good information, different design.

• New Hampshire House members page (gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members): you can select your town from a drop-down menu and find out the name and contact information for each of your state representative. Your town or ward might have only one rep or more than a dozen. Make sure you know who they are, regardless of party or voting record. Each and every one of them is accountable to you. Bonus on the House contact page: you can download a complete House roster, if you’re so inclined.
• New Hampshire Senate members (gencourt.state.nh.us/senate/members/wml.aspx): select your town from the drop-down menu to get your senator’s name and contact information. The full Senate roster is on a separate page.
• Finding bills: the left side of the General Court homepage will help you look up a bill by its number, a keyword (text), or sponsor’s name.
• The House standing committees (gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/standingcommittees.aspx) page will give you a link to each policy committee – Education, Judiciary, Health and Human Services, and so on. That’s where to find the names of each committee member.
• Likewise, the Senate has a committee page (gencourt.state.nh.us/senate/committees/senate_committees.aspx).

Calendars

The House and Senate calendars, published weekly in printable PDF format, list all the public hearings for the coming week. The calendars are usually available online on Thursday evenings. Each chamber (House and Senate) maintains a digital calendar as well.

Hearings: in person and online

[edited to add this information] While you need to attend a hearing in person in order to offer spoken testimony, you can listen to hearings online. Click on the House or Senate digital calendar to find the committee or bill whose hearing you want, and you’ll find a link to the livestream.

Testifying on bills, and the critically-important remote sign-in procedure

One big change from 2020’s pandemic-triggered online procedure: you won’t be able to testify during a hearing remotely this year. If you want to speak to a committee at a hearing, you need to get yourself to Concord. Expect rooms to be set up with some distance between seats. As of early January, masks are optional in the State House and Legislative Office Building, but that policy could change. I’ll keep a mask handy when I head to Concord.

However, one innovation from last year is being continued, and it’s a good thing: you can sign up remotely to register your opinion to committee members on a specific bill. This is a very important development in public participation. During a hearing, the committee clerk will read aloud the tally of sign-ins, pro and con. If a life-issue bill has 600 people registering one way and only 30 registering the other, that’s going to be news.

Remote sign-in on a bill is available as soon as the bill is posted in the calendar, and you should sign in no later than 30 minutes before the scheduled start of a hearing to make sure the committee clerk has your name.

• Read the House remote sign-in directions (printable PDF) and become familiar with the House sign-in form.
• Read the Senate remote sign-in directions (printable PDF) and become familiar with the Senate sign-in form.

When you fill out the online sign-up form, you should get a confirmation page with instructions for submitting written testimony if you want to indicate more than simply support/oppose.

Anyone – whether testifying in person, signing up remotely, or doing neither – can submit written testimony to any committee on a bill being heard by that committee. If you email the committee at its address (remember those committee pages I mentioned above), the message will automatically go to each committee member. You can also use snail mail sent to a committee or its individual members (remember the postal service?), which nowadays could make your message stand out. Every elected official is flooded with emails, particularly when the topic is a life issue.

New this year: submitting testimony that can be read by the public

This announcement was in the January 28 House calendar, with emphasis added by me: “…please be aware of the new feature on the General Court website where New Hampshire citizens can upload written testimony on bills without the need to appear in person. Legislators are welcome to promote this new tool with your constituents. Legislators should also check the submissions page frequently to review testimony that has been submitted on bills coming before your committee. Testimony submitted online is available for anyone to view so we are encouraging this method of written testimony. The form accepts testimony through the end of the day of each bill’s public hearing.”

This is distinct from emailing the committee, as described in the previous paragraph. That can still be done, and your message will go to each committee member. This new way of submitting testimony will make your message available to the general public, where your personal stories and documentation will reach a larger audience.

Here is the link for submitting your public testimony: http://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/remotetestimony/submitted_testimony.aspx

Brevity, clarity, charity

Whenever you contact a legislator or committee:

• Keep it brief. If you’re testifying in person, you’ll probably have no more than three minutes. If you have a relevant personal story, talk about that. Your written testimony can be longer, and it can include documentation or data to augment your spoken testimony. Once a bill gets to the full chamber for a vote and you’re contacting each one of your reps, it’s best to be brief once again. Let them know you’re happy to offer more information, but for the most part, they’ll only have time to read a short message.
• Keep it clear. Your call to action needs to come first: “please support [bill number].” Don’t say “vote yes” or “vote no” unless you’re absolutely certain on what motion a committee or chamber is voting on; a “yes” vote on an “inexpedient to legislate” motion is a vote to kill a bill. If you want a bill to pass, say “please support this bill.” If you want a bill to be killed, say “please oppose this bill.”
• Keep it polite. Regardless of your feelings about a particular rep or the rep’s party, you’re talking to a neighbor whenever you communicate about a piece of legislation. Someday, your courteous message might be the one to spark a constructive one-on-one conversation with a rep who is usually not supportive of pro-life policy. That’s how persuasion works. Be courteous, say please, and send a thank-you when a rep gets a vote right.

Take a State House tour – and allow time to find parking

Anyone who has ever heard me talk about the New Hampshire State House knows that I am a raving fan. It is absolutely worth a tour. Our State House is on the small side (especially for a state with 424 legislators), and it could use some tech upgrades, and it is not a modern building. Don’t be put off: it’s a gem. At a minimum, if you’re up there, stop at the Visitor Center on the first floor. The team there can give you a brochure for a self-guided tour, or you can book a tour in advance. Street address: 107 North Main Street, Concord.

If you’re going to a hearing in the Legislative Office Building, it’s across State Street from the rear of the State House. Street address: 33 North State Street, Concord.

There’s a pedestrian tunnel connecting the LOB and the State House, which can be handy if you have business in both places. There’s a cafeteria down there at the State House end.

Parking in Concord near the State House can be a challenge. However much time you think it’ll take to get to Concord, add another ten minutes for finding parking. The city of Concord has a web page dedicated to downtown parking which includes a map of parking areas along with information on the handy Pay by Phone app (requiring a smartphone). If you don’t use the smartphone app, be sure to bring quarters.