The NH house has voted to require women to wait 24 hours before getting an abortion.
The so-called women’s right to know bill had to be pared back to win final house passage. Penalties for doctors were stripped, as was the requirements that abortion providers give women seeking an abortion specific information about abortion risks, including a contested claim linking aborts to breast cancer. According to the final amendments lead author Republican Tammy Simmons of Manchester, limiting the proposal to a simple 24 waiting period is a common sense compromise.
"You can’t get knee surgery when you walk into the doctor’s office. They won’t take out a gall bladder when you walk into the office. You should not be able to get an abortion when you walk into an office," said Simmons.
The bill does allow for an exception if the mother's life is in danger or if delay would cause irreversible harm to a major bodily function. Critics of the bill, which may face a veto if it reaches Governor Lynch, say it puts the state between a woman and her doctor.
