Michelle Cilley Foisy and Kelly Omu attend a State House rally in Concord in May 2022 opposing restrictions on abortion. (Annmarie Timmins/New Hampshire Bulletin file photo)
A proposal to further restrict abortion access in New Hampshire has officially died.
The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted 340-15 to withdraw House Bill 476, which would’ve banned abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for medical emergencies and fetal abnormalities. It did not include exceptions for rape or incest.
Abortion is currently illegal in New Hampshire after 24 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for medical emergencies and fetal abnormalities. However, there are no exceptions for rape or incest. HB 476 sought to tighten the ban by nine weeks.
The bill’s prime sponsor, Wolfeboro Republican Rep. Katy Peternel, filed a motion to withdraw it in late January, saying “there is a flaw in the bill that prevents us from moving forward in a logical, reasonable, or obvious way.” Her co-sponsors also asked to pull the legislation.
Peternel did not respond to requests for comment about what flaw made her withdraw the bill.
The bill faced an uphill battle even before its sponsors backed away from it. Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte promised to veto any legislation seeking to tighten the state’s abortion limits, which were put in place in 2021.
“If you send me legislation that further restricts access to abortion beyond our current law, I will veto it,” she said during her inaugural address in January.
Additionally, House and Senate Republican leaders also promised not to pass further abortion restrictions on the campaign trail.