New Hampshire Senate rejects enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution
ABC News
Another attempt to enshrine abortion rights in the New Hampshire Constitution has failed
CONCORD, N.H. -- Another attempt to enshrine abortion rights in the New Hampshire Constitution failed Thursday, this time in the Senate.
State law prohibits abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy except when the mother’s health or life is in danger or there is a fatal fetal anomaly. The Republican-led House earlier this month voted 193-184 in favor of a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights up to that threshold, short of the three-fifths majority needed to advance the proposal.
On Thursday, the Republican-led Senate rejected a similar measure outright, voting 14-9 along party lines against a more broadly worded proposal to add language to the constitution protecting “personal reproductive autonomy.”
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, voters in seven states have either protected abortion rights or defeated attempts to curtail them in statewide votes.
New Hampshire does not allow citizen-led ballot initiatives. Changes can be made to the state constitution if three-fifths of the Legislature agrees to put the question to voters, who must then approve amendments by at least a two-thirds majority.
