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Saturday marks one year since the US Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, striking down Roe v. Wade.
Abortion providers in New Hampshire say they’ve been feeling the effect of the decision, from more people coming from out of state for abortion care to more protests outside of the Equality Health Center in Concord. And, on the eve of the anniversary, the state’s two Democratic US Senators say they’re going to keep pushing to ensure people have access to reproductive health care.
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Abortion is remains legal in New Hampshire for up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, although attempts to enshrine abortion access in the state constitution failed in the Republican controlled Senate this year.
”When it comes to New Hampshire, we remain the only state in New England without proactive protections for abortion rights in our state law or state constitution,” said Kayla Montgomery during a press event this week. She’s the vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, which includes Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
Those three states have seen a 12.5 percent increase in out-of-state patients seeking care in the past year, according to Montgomery. She said 350 patients across the three states have used telehealth visits for abortion since Planned Parenthood made them available a year ago.
Jinelle Hobson, executive director of the Equality Health Center, said that since Roe v. Wade was overturned, hostilities from anti-abortion activists have also increased.
”Every week we are seeing more and more people on our street corner, constantly harassing patients trying to enter for health care,” she said. “Right now our focus here at EHD is the safety of our patients and staff inside the building. We just cannot tolerate the violence.”
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She called on state and local officials to help keep people accessing abortion safe. “There is no protection for these patients other than our escorts,” she said.
Josie Pinto of the Reproductive Freedom Fund said her organization is seeing the highest patient volume to date. The fund has paid for 260 out-of-state abortions since Roe v. Wade was struck down and is currently operating on a budget of around $20,000 per month, she said.
Abortion was a key issue for Democrats during the midterm elections, and Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan said they’re not letting the issue go.
Speaking during a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Shaheen said she’s introducing legislation that would codify a new Pentagon policy ensuring people can take leave for reproductive health care services including abortion.
“Odds are that women who are stationed in Republican controlled states have lost reproductive freedoms,” Shaheen said.
Hassan called the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision a devastating blow to a woman’s fundamental freedom.
“At stake right now is the principle that women are free and equal citizens in our democracy and that they should be able to chart their own futures,” she said. “What I know is that in the Live Free or Die state, we take our freedoms really, really seriously.”
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Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @amanda_gokee.