New Hampshire House Votes to Allow Abortions Up Until Moment of Birth – With Major Assist from Republicans
The New Hampshire House voted to repeal all penalties from the state’s “Fetal Life Protection Act.” If HB 224 passes the Senate and is signed by the governor, the state will allow unrestricted abortion until birth, reports Cornerstone Action, a pro-life, pro-family ally of Focus on the Family.
Cornerstone Executive Director Shannon McGinley was outraged by the vote, which passed when 16 Republicans joined Democrats for the majority. Many of those Republicans had run as “conservative” candidates. She stated:
The House’s vote for HB 224 today was a bloodthirsty act. Make no mistake: voting to allow the execution of viable, late-term children is on the same moral plane as a wartime atrocity.
Cornerstone explained the consequences of the vote for preborn babies:
Under current New Hampshire law, the only abortions that are prohibited are those which knowingly kill a viable child six months or older. Let’s be clear about what HB 224 will do: its sole purpose is to allow the execution of children who are so well-developed that they could be delivered and would live.
With the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the fight to save preborn lives largely shifted from the federal level to state governments. New Hampshire is now a battleground state for protecting preborn babies.
The legislature passed the Fetal Life Protection Act in 2021, with the act going into effect in January 2022. According to Cornerstone, “The Act prohibits the abortion of viable infants at or after 24 weeks of gestation – that is, six months of pregnancy – with exceptions for the mother’s life or physical health.”
Abortionists face criminal or civil liabilities if they know the child was at least 24 weeks old or there was a “substantial risk” that the child might be that old. But if HB 224 becomes law, the Fetal Life Protection Act will be effectively gutted because it will have no enforcement mechanism, allowing infants who could survive outside the womb to be aborted.
In addition, the pro-life organization explained the political significance of the vote:
Although the House is virtually tied between Republicans and Democrats, the bill passed 205-178, with a group of 16 Republican representatives joining the Democrats.
This is a historic moment, not just for New Hampshire, but for America. Although there have been other narrowly-divided state legislatures in the US, this is the first time that any Republican-led legislative body has voted to authorize unlimited abortion until birth in a final vote. These legislators are also the largest group of Republican officials anywhere in the US to vote for unlimited abortion.
The bill now goes to the senate, and Cornerstone is urging pro-life constituents to pray, contact their state senators, and “prepare yourselves and your communities for a zealous fight to defend the least of these.”
Related articles and resources:
New Hampshire Cornerstone Action
- NH Reps Vote For Aborting Viable Children
- Ask your state senator nowto stand against HB 224
- FAQ On NH Late-Term Abortion Ban
Daily Citizen:
An Open Letter to Pro-Life Candidates: Don’t Shy Away From the Abortion Issue
U.S. Military to Receive Time Off and Travel Expenses to Obtain Abortions
What Actually Happened in ‘Dobbs’? A Short Explanation.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeff Johnston is a culture and policy analyst for Focus on the Family and a staff writer for the Daily Citizen. He researches, writes and teaches about topics of concern to families such as parental rights, religious freedom, LGBT issues, education and free speech. Johnston has been interviewed by CBS Sunday Morning, The New York Times, Associated Press News, The Christian Post, Rolling Stone and Vice, and is a frequent guest on radio and television outlets. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from San Diego State University with a Bachelors in English and a Teaching Credential. He and his wife have been married 30 years and have three grown sons.
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