On a party-line vote, Republicans in the New Hampshire Senate recently approved a bill that would require abortion providers to share certain data about the procedures they perform with state public health officials.
Forty-six other states already have similar laws in place, making New Hampshire an outlier in the dissemination of abortion statistics.
“I’ve heard debates on the floor many times that we just don’t have the information, we don’t have the data,” Republican Sen. Regina Birdsell said on the Senate floor last week. “Well, guess what: This will do it.”
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But for Democrats, the proposal, which was added late in the legislative process and therefore not subject to a public hearing, is the GOP’s latest attempt to chip away at abortion rights and curtail personal freedoms.
“Ever since the Dobbs decision, we have been living in a dystopian horror show with control of pregnant bodies the main plot line,” Democrat Sen. Debra Altschiller said during debate on the measure.
New Hampshire Republicans have tried unsuccessfully numerous times in recent years to require abortion providers to release certain statistics. The latest effort calls for providers to share the date and location of each abortion, the method used, including if a medication was prescribed, as well as share the state of residence of the pregnant patient, and the gestational age of the fetus.
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The state Department of Health and Human Services would then publish data annually on abortions in New Hampshire, though the bill doesn’t clarify if the information would be released in an aggregated form, or if the county or even the zip code of the provider would be disclosed.
Democrats argued that level of data shared publicly could put providers at risk for harassment or other targeting; they also questioned how gestational age should be determined by the provider, since the bill lacks any detail.
“This amendment would potentially require a government-forced, potentially medically unnecessary, intrusive trans-vaginal ultrasound,” Sen. Becky Whitley said during a debate last Friday that grew tense at times. “That should send chills down the spine of every woman in the state.”
Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson, a Republican, rose to her feet, saying she was baffled by the claim.
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing here. I really and truly cannot,” said Carson. “There’s no requirement for any kind of testing here. No ultrasound, no nothing.”
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Carson accused Democrats of spreading misinformation about the bill, and in a statement this week reiterated that an ultrasound is not the only way providers could determine age in compliance with the bill.
In practice, providers say ultrasounds are performed before abortions when it makes sense for the patient. But there are other ways to determine gestational age, including using the date of the last menstrual cycle. States including Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont permit abortion providers to estimate the age of the fetus using that information.
A tool for sound policy, or for scoring political points
Abortion providers in New Hampshire say they aren’t opposed to producing and sharing protected, anonymized data, as long as it is used to advance public health policy.
“However, where we need clarity whenever we consider the request to supply abortion data is really we need to know specifically or with some clarity, what the anticipated public health benefit is and how the data may be used,” said Sandi Denoncour, executive director of Lovering Health Center in Greenland.
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Abortion rights supporters point to what they see as a history of states using reporting requirements to bog down abortion providers with paperwork. Other states have also required providers to collect invasive or what they see as irrelevant information about the patient, including their history of contraceptive use.
“They’re not really being used for public health purposes,” said Rachel Jones, a researcher with the Guttmacher Institute, one of the country’s leading research institutions on abortion. “They’re being used to further stigmatize abortion and increase the burden on the facilities that provide this care.”
While New Hampshire, along with California, Maryland and New Jersey are the only states that don’t have reporting mandates, Guttmacher’s website does maintain abortion statistics for procedures performed in New Hampshire.
In 2023, Guttmacher estimates there were 2,400 abortions performed in the state.
That data is based on voluntary reporting by local clinics, including Lovering Health Center and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.
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Those clinics willingly share aggregate abortion numbers, they said, because they trust Guttmacher to use the data for research purposes.
After clearing the state Senate on a party line vote, the bill mandating reporting statistics now heads to the New Hampshire House, where it will get a full public hearing and could be amended.
Gov. Chris Sununu has previously said he supports the state collecting data.
These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.
Editor’s note: State Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, is the wife of Howard Altschiller, Seacoast Media Group’s executive editor.
CONCORD, NH — Here are the Top 10 most popular stories and posts from around New Hampshire Patch sites last week.
Concord Police Investigating The Death Of A Young Child In The City’s South End Neighborhood: Update: Dakin Street was closed to traffic for several hours during an investigation of a child found dead at a duplex on Friday morning.
Facebook Marketplace Cleaning Services Hire Or Sex Sale Gone Bad Leads To Stabbing In Manchester: Court docs: Frank Miller of Manchester and Kendra Gokey, a homeless woman, were arrested on first-degree assault and other charges Sunday.
Man Shot During Dispute On South State Street In Downtown Concord: Video: Breaking: A man was shot in the leg Saturday during a dispute; cops have South State Street from Thompson to Concord closed to traffic.
Fast Food Chain Closing Locations | Queen City Killing | Meth Distributor Pleads Guilty | More: Nearby News: Also: Best sandwich shop in NH; untimely death; crashes; knife attack indictments; firefighter injured in explosion released from hospital.
After The Snow Sunday And Monday, More Is Coming To New Hampshire, Forecasters Say: After the storm that is expected to bring 8 to 12 inches of snow to the state, more snowstorm fronts are expected to arrive this week.
6 To 15 Inches Of Snow Heading To The Granite State Sunday Night; Wind Gusts Up To 45 mph: Forecasters: Heavy, blinding snow is expected in central and southern New Hampshire, as well as the Seacoast, from Sunday night to Monday morning.
National Fast Food Chain To Close Hundreds Of Restaurants; New Hampshire Locations May Be Impacted: The chain that closed hundreds of locations in 2024 expects to shutter approximately 360 nationwide during the first half of 2026.
Police Arrest Man On Felony Charges After South State Street Shooting In Downtown Concord: Follow-Up: David Anziani faces first-degree and second-degree assault, reckless conduct, and felonious firearm charges after a shooting on Saturday.
Hollis Teen Faces Assault Charge, Accused Of An ‘Unprovoked’ Attack In Downtown Nashua In November: Connor Cook was arrested in late December after being accused of punching another man in the face on Main Street and then fleeing the scene.
How Much Income Is Needed To Be Considered ‘Rich’ In New Hampshire?: A new analysis details the annual household income required to be considered among the top 10 percent of earners in the Granite State.
Here are some other posts readers may have missed:
Child Death Investigation | Queen City Tax Cap Fight | Fun Things To Do This Weekend | More: PM Patch NH
CONCORD, N.H. – New Hampshire lawmakers have moved to reject a Republican-backed proposal to launch an impeachment inquiry into the lone Democrat on the state’s five-member Executive Council.
On Friday, a key committee of lawmakers delivered a unanimous 17-0 vote against an impeachment inquiry into Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill of Lebanon, N.H.
The vote on House Resolution 41 followed an abbreviated public hearing, after the bill’s sponsor withdrew his support for the proposal and instead asked lawmakers on the committee to recommend killing it.
The push for Liot Hill’s impeachment was led by Representative Joe Sweeney, a Salem Republican and the deputy majority leader in the New Hampshire House.
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At issue were several emails Liot Hill had sent from her official account to help a partisan law firm identify voters impacted by a new state law. The law tightened voter ID requirements for absentee ballots.
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Sweeney had previously called Liot Hill’s correspondence “political lawfare run out of a taxpayer-funded inbox.” In December, a review by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office found that Liot Hill’s conduct was not illegal and did not constitute a misuse of office, clearing the complaint against her.
Reached by the Globe on Friday, Sweeney, who was not present at the public hearing, said in a statement he preferred to let voters decide whether Liot Hill should continue to serve in the upcoming November election.
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“After reviewing the matter and hearing the discussion, I believe the appropriate course is to move forward and allow the voters and the political process to do their work,” he said.
“The purpose of filing the resolution was to ensure that the constitutional questions raised were addressed seriously and transparently,” he said, noting that he stands by the process and the decision to recommend killing the resolution.
In an interview, Liot Hill said she was pleased with the unanimous vote from the House Judiciary Committee.
“The committee vote, I think, sends the message that there was no merit to this,” she said.
The proposal now heads to the full House of Representatives, which has the power to approve the committee’s recommendation to reject it.
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Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her @amanda_gokee.
