New Hampshire House Fails Granite Staters By Denying Them the Right to Vote for Their Own Reproductive Futures
New Hampshire House fails to advance CACR 23, the proposed constitutional amendment to protect abortion access
CONCORD, NH (February 1, 2024) – Today, the New Hampshire House failed to advance CACR 23, which if passed by both chambers, would have put a constitutional amendment on the ballot this November to protect Granite Staters’ right to access abortion care. While the bill received bipartisan support and earned a majority vote in support of an ought to pass motion, it failed to reach the three-fifths majority threshold necessary to advance a proposed constitutional amendment. The final vote was 193 to 184 in support of CACR 23.
New Hampshire is currently the only state in New England without legal protections for abortion in state law or its constitution.
“Today, a minority of the New Hampshire House ignored the will of 87 percent of New Hampshire residents who support abortion rights, and denied every Granite State voter the ability to make their voice heard on their own health care,” said Christina Warriner, New Hampshire State Director for Reproductive Equity Now. “Granite Staters have watched from afar as voters in neighboring states have achieved historic success protecting and defending abortion access at the polls through citizen-driven ballot initiatives. Because New Hampshire does not offer voters the opportunity to submit ballot questions through petitioning, it is the responsibility of their representatives, after listening to hours of testimony and receiving hundreds of constituent emails and phone calls, to respond to this call for action and put abortion on the ballot.
“At the end of the day, CACR 23 is about trust – trusting Granite Staters to make their own decisions about their health care and their futures. Trusting doctors to be the medical experts. Trusting democracy to work as it is intended. We know that this is not the end of the fight for reproductive freedom in the Granite State, but merely the beginning of the next battle for our rights,” Warriner continued.
Without federal or state protections for abortion rights, the outcome of every single election could determine whether abortion remains legal or not in New Hampshire. Attacks on reproductive freedom have not slowed down this legislative session: New Hampshire legislators introduced bills to ban abortion at just 15 days and to put medically-unnecessary restrictions on the provision of abortion care.
In New Hampshire, unlike states with citizen-driven ballot initiatives, constitutional amendments must first be proposed by a legislator and approved by a 60% majority in both legislative chambers in order for the proposal to move forward to the ballot. The New Hampshire Senate has also introduced CACR 24, a constitutional amendment to protect abortion on the ballot.
Reproductive Equity Now, since launching operations in New Hampshire five months ago, has supported efforts around passing CACR 23 as part of a statewide reproductive rights coalition. The organization stood with legislators at a press conference to introduce the CACR in December, provided testimony in support of the bill, and activated hundreds of volunteers to contact their representatives in support of the legislation.
Reproductive Equity Now has also created the New England Abortion Care Guide, a tool to help residents across New England identify legitimate abortion care providers and avoid deceptive anti-abortion centers.
Learn more about Reproductive Equity Now’s work in New Hampshire here.
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