New Hampshire contributes to a record year for abortion restrictions

By: Annmarie Timmins - October 7, 2021 12:24 pm

One of the bills sought to repeal the 24-week abortion ban and the other to prohibit future restrictions on access. (Getty Images)

New Hampshire is one of 19 states to enact a total of 106 abortion restrictions in the past year, the most in a single year since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, according to an analysis by the Guttmacher Institute. The prior record was set in 2011, when 89 new laws were enacted by states.

With its new ban on abortions after 24 weeks, New Hampshire joins 43 other states that prohibit most abortions at some point during a pregnancy. The new law signed by Gov. Chris Sununu makes an exception for the life and health of the mother.

Other aspects of the new law are somewhat less common. New Hampshire now joins 27 other states that require everyone seeking an abortion to get an ultrasound, even those within the allowed period, but it is not among those that require a woman to be shown the image.

New Hampshire’s new law also subjects abortion providers who violate the law to up to seven years in jail.

A graphic on abortion restrictions — (Source: Guttmacher Institute)

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Annmarie Timmins

Senior reporter Annmarie Timmins is a New Hampshire native who covered state government, courts, and social justice issues for the Concord Monitor for 25 years. During her time with the Monitor, she won a Nieman Fellowship to study journalism and mental health courts at Harvard for a year. She has taught journalism at the University of New Hampshire and writing at the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications.