Repro Roundup 4.11
We’re disappointed to share that the New Hampshire State Budget for FY ‘26-’27 – which excludes funding for the state’s Family Planning Program – passed the House. Despite the fact that a group of House Democrats introduced a floor amendment to save the Family Planning Program, the House draft of the budget moved on to the Senate with no funding for Family Planning.
This vote is absolutely devastating for low-income Granite Staters. With prices skyrocketing across the nation under the Trump Administration and economic precarity growing, Granite Staters need access to high-quality, affordable preventative sexual and reproductive health care now more than ever. This program has proven its efficacy over the years – New Hampshire has one of the lowest teen pregnancy rates in the nation due to the availability of reproductive health care to those who need it most.
A budget is a statement of values – and this budget makes clear that New Hampshire House Republicans do not value the health and wellness of their most vulnerable constituents.
Our eyes now turn to the New Hampshire Senate, who will continue the budgeting process. We are going to demand that the New Hampshire Senate prioritize the health and wellness of Granite Staters and protect the Family Planning Program so that all Granite Staters can thrive. Stay up to date with our New Hampshire work so you know how you can take action.
On to this week’s headlines –
News from New England
→ Thank You for Helping Us Take Action for the Location Shield Act!
This past week, we testified in front of the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet, and Cybersecurity in support of the Location Shield Act! The Location Shield Act would protect data privacy by prohibiting the sale, lease, or trade of Massachusetts cellphone location data, and therefore, protect abortion patients and providers from surveillance and hostile prosecution, especially as threats to abortion care continue to rise under the Trump Administration. In addition to testifying in person, we are proud to have recruited hundreds of Bay Staters to submit written and oral testimony in support of this legislation. Stay up to date with our work fighting to pass the LSA!
→ Our ✨ Latest Granite State Gala Honorees ✨
BIG NEWS! Last week, we announced two more honorees at our 2025 Breaking Barriers Gala! We are thrilled to be honoring two fearless New Hampshire legislative leaders who have stood up against continued anti-abortion attacks in the state – Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka and House Minority Leader Alexis Simpson. With an anti-repro trifecta in New Hampshire’s state government, New Hampshire Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka and House Minority Leader Alexis Simpson remain relentless in their fight for Granite Staters’ reproductive freedom. They each have exemplified what true leadership looks like amid continued attacks on reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights this year while simultaneously pushing to affirm access to abortion care for all Granite Staters. We look forward to honoring these trailblazing leaders at our upcoming Breaking Barriers 2025 Gala.
It’s not too late to join us for our gala on May 15th! You can purchase tickets below and find more information about sponsorship opportunities.
→ New Research From Student Partners at Northeastern School of Law
Our policy counsel Jaime recently attended student presentations by two classes of Legal Skills in Social Context (LSSC) students at Northeastern University School of Law. Through the NUSL LSSC program, first-year law students partnered with REN to research the legal landscape of access to contraception and abortion in carceral settings in MA, CT, and NH. Students were tasked with researching federal and state laws and regulations, policies of detention centers, jails, and prisons, and interviewing various stakeholders to produce a comprehensive report to fully understand the barriers that incarcerated people face in accessing abortion care, propose potential solutions dependent on research, and create know-your-rights materials to inform the public and stakeholders. We’re grateful to these students for their diligent work.
→ Tufts University’s Black Maternal Health Conference
We were proud to have joined and sponsored the Black Maternal Health Conference hosted by the Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice at the Tufts University School of Medicine last week. This year’s conference emphasized the role and importance of fatherhood in addressing the maternal health crisis. Reproductive equity and justice require the holistic consideration of the experiences of birthing people, including how support for families improves birth outcomes and maternal health care. We’re grateful to the Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice at Tufts and all of the organizers of this conference for convening this crucial conversation!
→ UConn Sexual Health and Wellness Fair
Our Research and Policy Advisor Kate joined UConn students at their 4th annual Sexual Health and Wellness fair last week! Over 400 students stopped by to learn about reproductive and sexual health resources and advocacy. We’re grateful to the students at UConn for visiting our booth and fired up to help them engage in advocacy for reproductive equity.
National Notice
→ Fights to Restore Title X Family Planning Funds
162 House Democrats submitted a letter to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (who we are still in shock is serving as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services), urging that the department rescind its freeze of family planning funding. We’re grateful to Representative Ayanna Pressley for co-leading this fight to reinstate Title X funding to reproductive health care providers.
→ Global Maternal Health Statistics Devastate, PRAMS Offline, and Global Loss of Birth Control
One major consequence of DOGE running rampant through the federal government is the massive impact on maternal health and preventative care. The entire team within the Department of Health and Human Service and the Center for Disease Control that manages the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, or PRAMS, which is the gold-standard for maternal health statistics reporting and tracking, was laid off last week. Data collection for PRAMS had already been paused under an order from the Trump Administration related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, but with all of the staff working on PRAMS laid off by DOGE, the future of the program seems bleak. Without federal data and funding to gather these critical statistics about maternal health, states will be forced to develop their own surveillance techniques to track maternal health outcomes and move to address the growing maternal health crisis.
Meanwhile, reporting from the World Health Organization has devastatingly revealed that every two minutes, someone on this planet dies due to maternal health care failures. The WHO has also warned explicitly that the United States’ cuts to global maternal health care funding will result in a sharp uptick in maternal mortality. The New York Times also reports that 50 million women across the globe will lose access to birth control that is provided by USAID. This is not an overreaction: the funding cuts at the hands of DOGE and the Trump Administration will result in thousands and thousands of deaths across the globe – and here in the United States.
→ Attacks on HIPPA
A coalition of anti-abortion Attorneys General are suing the federal government to rescind a Biden Administration rule affirming that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) includes the protection of health information data related to abortion care. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking an even more aggressive approach, filing a case to axe all rules under HIPAA that prevent physicians from being compelled to share patient data with the police. This litigation marks one of the most vicious attacks on shield laws that protect abortion providers and patients from hostile litigation when they seek care in states that protect abortion care in the event that their home state bans abortion. These attacks also drive home the responsibility pro-choice New England states have to ensure that patient and provider data – and cellphone location data – is staunchly protected from weaponization by anti-abortion extremists.
Get Involved!
📍ANYWHERE! Purchase tickets for Reproductive Equity Now’s 2025 Gala!
Reproductive Equity Now will be hosting our 2025 Gala on May 15th at the InterContinental in Boston, and we would be thrilled to have you join us! Purchase tickets at this link, and learn more about sponsorship opportunities here.
📍ANYWHERE! Join the Abortion Access Advocates!
Abortion Access Advocates is a growing volunteer resource program designed to support you as abortion and reproductive equity advocates. At our AAA trainings, we gather virtually with fellow advocates, get to know each other, and dig into a new topic each month. Our next AAA meeting will feature leaders of local abortion funds who will help us understand mutual aid and support for abortion seekers. Register here.
Our Resources
Need to understand your legal rights to provide or access abortion care? Reproductive Equity Now’s Abortion Legal Hotline will help connect Massachusetts and Connecticut-based health care providers and helpers, as well as patients obtaining care in Connecticut or Massachusetts, with free legal advice and resources about abortion access. This resource is now available in Spanish.
Looking for an abortion provider in your area? Our New England Abortion Care Guide allows you to search by zip code for legitimate abortion clinics near you. It even flags dangerous and deceptive anti-abortion centers to avoid at all costs. This resource is now available in Spanish.
Want to learn more about how to combat anti-abortion centers in your community? Check out Reproductive Equity Now’s guidebook on anti-abortion centers to understand how anti-abortion centers often use deceptive practices to target patients seeking abortion care, and get the tools you need to organize against them.
Thank you so much for powering this fight. We’re grateful to have you in the movement with us.
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