Sponsors Ask To Withdraw Strict Abortion Bill, Rep. Lynn Says the House Must Decide

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Dr. Oglesby Young testifies against HB 476, which would ban abortion after 15 weeks. The hearing was delayed because an extra room had to be opened to accommodate everyone who turned out at the Legislative Office Building in Concord Monday.

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By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org

The prime sponsor of House Bill 476 filed to withdraw her bill that would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, but Rep. Bob Lynn held a four-hour public hearing Monday on it anyway, then later postponed a committee vote on it.

Rep. Katy Peternel, R-Wolfeboro, said the bill was flawed, but didn’t say specifically what was wrong with it.

After four hours of emotional and very personal testimony by citizens and medical providers, Lynn, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced an amendment that would turn the bill into one that would track abortion statistics.

Lynn, R-Windham, then decided to recess voting on the bill until Feb. 19 and take no vote on the measure Monday, explaining that the decision whether the bill can be withdrawn will instead be voted on by the full House Feb. 6.

Online submissions showed 1007 people supported the bill and 11,962 opposed.

“It seems to me and I could be wrong, it’s very likely the House will vote to accept the withdrawal of this bill,” Lynn said after state Rep. Marjorie Smith, D-Durham, said the committee should vote on the bill, not the full House.

“..We have been here now for five hours,” Smith said, adding people who testified were attentive and respectful.

She said she understands that the decision was Lynn’s to recess voting on the bill in executive session until after the House votes whether to allow withdrawal, but disagreed.

“The bill is in our possession, and I think we ought to vote on it,” Smith said.

Given the attention the matter has received, Smith said she didn’t think the Speaker or the governor really wants this bill to come to the floor of the House.

Ayotte said during the campaign she wouldn’t support a stronger abortion ban than the after 24 weeks that is on the books now.

“I think we ought to do what’s our job to do. And that’s vote on the bill,” Smith said.

State Rep. Buzz Scherr, D-Portsmouth, said it was a good decision to let everyone speak at the hearing but it’s equally “our responsibility to express our opinion rather than abdicate to a more arcane process.”

Democratic Leader Alexis Simpson said after the hearing, “Let’s be clear: if Republicans didn’t want to strip away your rights, they wouldn’t have introduced a 15-week abortion ban in the first place.

“Today, when the House GOP realized that more than 11,000 Granite Staters had signed in against this bill, the Republican sponsor made a half-hearted attempt to withdraw it, blaming disagreements among their conservative advisors over wording. But even that didn’t stop a member of their leadership from testifying in favor of the ban. Don’t be fooled by this so-called pullback. Make no mistake, New Hampshire Republicans are determined to roll back your reproductive freedoms—if not today, then in the very near future.”

Lynn said near the end of the hearing, “All of these issues are kind of interesting, but I think what is beyond dispute is that it is my call whether to recess the executive session.”

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