Women’s Rights Protests In New Hampshire

Women’s Rights are constantly under attack, and most recently these battles have been focused on reproductive health. Nationwide, legislators are signing into law abortion bans- without having proper medical knowledge. 

To combat these violations of rights, women all over the country have been assembling in vital cities to hold protests and marches. According to the Concord Moniter, the most recent, marches were held nationally on October 2nd, 2021, a day after the Biden administration urged a federal judge to block the nation’s most restrictive abortion law, which has banned most abortions in Texas since early September.

New Hampshire rallies for abortion rights were not held exclusively out of solidarity with women from other states, though. In June, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu (R) signed into law a slate of abortion restrictions effective at the start of 2022, according to Seacost Online. 

These restrictions, though much less severe than those present in Texas, are still an affront to women’s bodily autonomy rights. These new abortion laws, summerized by Ian Lenahan for Portsmouth Herald, on Seacoast Online, state that “Ultrasounds will also be mandated before any abortions can be performed in order to determine the fetus’ gestational age… Granite State medical providers who knowingly perform abortions past 24 weeks gestation will be charged with a Class B felony, a risk that could carry consequences of seven years of jail time and a fine from anywhere between $10,000 and $100,000… Even in the case of rape, incest and fatal fetal anomaly, abortions will be banned after a fetus has reached 24 weeks gestation unless in the case of medical emergency and a woman’s life or major bodily function is in danger.” 

These New Hampshire protests were thus a direct response to the threat to women’s safety. As stated by Ellen Knickmeyer of the Associated Press, on the Concord Monitor, “‘The march is part of “a fight to secure, safeguard, and strengthen our constitutional right to an abortion,’ Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of the Women’s March, said in a statement. ‘And it’s a fight against the Supreme Court justices, state lawmakers, and senators who aren’t on our side — or aren’t acting with the urgency this moment demands.’” 

Women are fighting back against these violations through more than just protests. Women are emailing, texting, and calling their senators and other representatives demanding their rights be upheld. An important figuehead of this fight is New Hampshire senator Jeanne Shaheen (D); she has attended marches in the past, and released a prepared statement on Wednesday (September 29th) about the marches and the recent abortion legislation. Part of the statement, as summerized by Ion Lenahan, for the Portsmouth Herald on Seacoast Online, is as follows; “The governor and state Republicans cleared a budget that includes dangerous anti-woman stipulations that ban abortions and impose unnecessary, costly and burdensome ultrasound requirements. And most recently, we saw Republican members of the Executive Council defund numerous family planning organizations, which will compromise access to urgent health care services that Granite State women – most of whom are low-income – rely on,” Shaheen said. “The fact that we’ve seen these attacks make their way to the ‘Live Free or Die’ state underscores the urgent need to speak out and fight back. I’m proud to stand with New Hampshire women in this fight today, tomorrow and always.” 

These new laws have been criticized and protested against by many medical professionals, especially OB/Gyns, such as Dr. Danielle Jones, M.D.. Women everywhere are fighting back, striving for their right to bodily autonomy. The more states to attack women’s rights, the stronger the protests and marches will grow, based on previous events. New Hampshire is just one state of many to fight this fight, and the marches for women’s rights will continue as time goes on.