New Hampshire Executive Council Ignores Will of Voters, Fails to Fund Essential Reproductive Health Care
The Executive Council just rejected Family Planning Contracts for Lovering Health Center, Equality Health Center, & Planned Parenthood of Northern New England for the fifth time
CONCORD, NH (November 29, 2023) – The New Hampshire Executive Council voted again today to deny funding for Equality Health Center of Concord, the Joan G. Lovering Health Center of Greenland, and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England as part of the state’s Family Planning Program. This vote marks the fifth consecutive time the Executive Council has rejected these Family Planning contracts and withheld urgent funding from these nonprofit reproductive health service providers since 2021.
"Today, the Executive Council turned their backs on the most vulnerable patients and communities in the state, once again denying basic, essential family planning services to Granite Staters. The Executive Council is again caving to anti-abortion misinformation that falsely claims that family planning dollars would be used for abortion," said Rebecca Hart Holder, President of Reproductive Equity Now. “It is shameful that, once again, providers are excluded from receiving critical state funding to sustain and expand essential family planning services, including pregnancy testing, cancer screenings, and contraceptive access. New Hampshire voters overwhelmingly support reproductive freedom, and the four members of the Executive Council who voted to defund our reproductive and sexual health clinics are wildly out of step with their constituents.”
Today, and for the past four Family Planning contract votes, Councilor Cinde Warmington has been the lone vote in support of these three New Hampshire clinics and their patients, while Councilors Joe Kenney, Ted Gatsas, Janet Stevens, and David Wheeler have consistently voted to deny these New Hampshire communities the reproductive health care they need.
Because of clear and enforceable restrictions in federal and state law, funding from the Family Planning Program cannot be used to provide abortion care. Rather, this funding is used by recipients exclusively to provide forms of sexual and reproductive health care that do not include abortion care, such as access to contraception, pregnancy tests, annual examinations, cancer screenings, STD/STI treatment and testing, and more. The Program prioritizes subsidized care for low-income and uninsured patients.
“As long standing sexual and reproductive health clinics in the state, New Hampshire communities have relied on Equality Health Center and the Lovering Health Center to meet their essential health care needs for nearly fifty years,” said Jinelle Hobson, Executive Director of Equality Health Center in Concord, and Sandi Denoncour, Executive Director of Lovering Health Center in Greenland, in a joint statement. “While the Executive Council may not understand the health care needs of their constituents, these constituents are our patients, and we will always put them first. With funding cuts once again impacting our ability to provide care, we need the communities we serve to proudly stand with us to ensure that we can continue to provide reproductive and sexual health care services at an affordable rate and reach our most vulnerable community members.”
Today’s vote will also impact funding for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England health centers in Derry, Exeter, Keene and Manchester.
Reproductive Equity Now, a new voice in New Hampshire for abortion access and reproductive health care, is building a statewide movement to educate communities about reproductive equity, build support for independent clinical providers, and elect leaders who will ensure that reproductive health care, abortion, maternal health care, and more are accessible to the people of New Hampshire. Earlier this month, Reproductive Equity Now launched a statewide petition to gather signatures in support of reproductive health services funding. This petition has collected over 450 signatures.
“The Executive Council’s actions today clearly do not represent the values of New Hampshire voters,” said Christina Warriner, New Hampshire State Director of Reproductive Equity Now. “Granite Staters believe in reproductive freedom. Granite Staters support comprehensive and affordable access to essential health care like family planning. The Executive Council has ignored the will of the people, and that will not be forgotten when it is time to decide who continues to serve on the Executive Council next year.”
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