HCR 11 - AS INTRODUCED
2024 SESSION
24-2192
05/08
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 11
A RESOLUTION condemning medically unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion.
SPONSORS: Rep. Simpson, Rock. 33; Rep. M. Murray, Hills. 37; Rep. Toll, Ches. 15; Rep. Hakken-Phillips, Graf. 12; Rep. Lloyd, Hills. 8; Rep. Newell, Ches. 4; Rep. Turer, Rock. 6; Rep. Manos, Rock. 12; Rep. O'Neil, Rock. 29; Rep. Ming, Hills. 35; Sen. Perkins Kwoka, Dist 21; Sen. Whitley, Dist 15; Sen. Soucy, Dist 18; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13; Sen. Altschiller, Dist 24
COMMITTEE: State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ANALYSIS
This resolution condemns medically unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
24-2192
05/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
A RESOLUTION condemning medically unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion.
Whereas, abortion is a critical component of comprehensive reproductive health care, and access to abortion allows people to make decisions about their families and their lives; and
Whereas, in 1997 the bipartisan legislature of the state of New Hampshire repealed an unenforced 1955 abortion ban to ensure access to essential abortion care in this state; and
Whereas, the legislature of the state of New Hampshire has recognized the importance of access to mifepristone since 1991, when New Hampshire was the first state in the nation to adopt a state resolution urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to allow clinical trials of mifepristone in medication abortions; and
Whereas, abortion is safe, essential health care, and access to abortion, including medication abortion, is central to people’s ability to participate equally in economic and social life in New Hampshire and across the country; and
Whereas, access to medication abortion specifically is essential to protecting an individual’s freedom to control their own body, life, and future; and
Whereas, the drug mifepristone is a safe, effective, and common medication that has been used by more than five million people in the United States since it was approved under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) over two decades ago; and
Whereas, mifepristone has allowed patients to make their own private medical decisions, and expanded access to reproductive health care; and
Whereas, there is overwhelming evidence that medication abortion is safe and effective for virtually anyone who wants to end an early pregnancy, with a safety record of over 99 percent; and
Whereas, major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society, and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine support the safety, efficacy, and importance of access to mifepristone; and
Whereas, medication abortion accounts for more than half of all abortions obtained in the United States and more than 4,000,000 women in the country have used mifepristone to end a pregnancy since 2000; and
Whereas, for many people seeking abortion, access to medication abortion is not a preference, it is critical for their access to care, including survivors of rape or domestic abuse, for whom medication abortion may be the only way they can terminate a pregnancy without risking detection and further abuse; and
Whereas, medication abortion may also be medically indicated for women who have certain uterine anomalies or large uterine fibroids; and
Whereas, medication abortion can be a key tool in making health care more equitable, by bringing abortion access to those who need it most; and
Whereas, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas and United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decisions in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine et al. v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration et al. are ongoing examples of the weaponization of our country’s federal court system to advance the anti-abortion movement’s end goal of banning abortion nationwide; and
Whereas, although the courts’ decisions are currently stayed, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine et al. v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration et al. case highlights the importance of state protections for abortion access; and
Whereas, this resolution is intended to reiterate the importance of access to medication abortion, and the ability of all people to make personal, private health care decisions about their own bodies, lives, and futures; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the legislature of the state of New Hampshire condemns all medically unnecessary restrictions on access to mifepristone; and
That the legislature of the state of New Hampshire resolves to protect the interests of the state and all Granite Staters by taking action to protect and expand access to medication abortion; and
That the house clerk and senate clerk each transmit a copy of this resolution to the President of the United States Senate, United States Senate Majority Leader, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the governor of New Hampshire, the attorney general of New Hampshire and the members of the New Hampshire congressional delegation.