New Hampshire House Fails to Revive Paternal Involvement Abortion Law

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 21, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

New Hampshire House Fails to Revive Paternal Involvement Abortion Law Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 21
, 2007

Concord, NH (LifeNews.com) — The New Hampshire state legislature failed to revive the state’s parental notification law in a vote on Wednesday. The state House had already voted in favor of a bill to take the abortion law off the books and, following Wednesday’s action, it will head to the state Senate.

The notification statue has never been enforced and went all the way to the Supreme Court, which upheld it in part, but abortion advocates are moving a measure that would take it off the books.

New Hampshire state legislators voted earlier this month 226-130 to repeal the state’s parental notification law.

The House voted Wednesday against reconsidering that vote on a 271 to 141 margin and the Senate is expected now to approve the repeal measure.

Once that happens, Governor John Lynch has said he would sign the repeal measure into law, effectively leaving parents in the dark when it comes to their teenager’s decision to have an abortion.

Before the House voted for the repeal bill the first time, Rep. Fran Wendelboe sponsored an amendment to improve the law to meet concerns brought up in court. The vote on the amendment came in at 213-135 against it.

"It is not a test of how pro-choice or pro-life you are: It is a parental rights issue," Wendelboe said before the vote. "You can’t get a tattoo, or get your ears pierced, you can’t smoke, you can’t ride a bicycle under 16 without a helmet because the state knows better."

Pro-life advocates were disappointed by the vote and New Hampshire Citizens for Life president Roger Stenson told LifeNews.com, “Parents have a primordial right to protect and counsel their children. Children have the right to their parents’ involvement in their lives."

He said the legislators who voted to get rid of the involvement law "trampled on every family in our state."

He said the vote would encourage secret abortions on minors with people who sexually abuse them taking them for abortions without their parents knowing.

Related web sites:
New Hampshire legislature – https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us