Federal law forbids the use of public dollars for abortion. (Michael B. Thomas | Getty Images)
Local Planned Parenthood officials joined their national counterparts Wednesday in raising concerns about vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance’s assurances that he and former President Donald Trump would defund the organization, including its non-abortion, reproductive health care for lower-income residents.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte told the Bulletin a year ago that she share’s their position, saying Planned Parenthood is “the largest provider of abortions in the country and also it’s really somewhat of a political organization.” Ayotte said she would instead devote state resources to community health centers and “look at each contract” when it came to the other reproductive health providers.
In a statement Wednesday, Kayla Montgomery, New Hampshire spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Votes, called that Republican position dangerous.
“Senator Vance’s call to defund Planned Parenthood is another dangerous attack on reproductive health care, one that would severely impact communities across New Hampshire,” said Montgomery.
She noted that the state Executive Council ended support for New Hampshire’s Planned Parenthood’s cancer screenings, birth control, pregnancy counseling, and other basic care in 2021 because the organization also provides abortions. The council’s Republicans rejected a state audit that showed Planned Parenthood in New Hampshire was using only private dollars for abortions, saying it was enough that abortions were being provided in the same space as other services.
Democratic Councilor Cinde Warmington and the federal delegation worked around the council to get federal funding to the organization directly.
“The last thing New Hampshire needs is more political attacks that make it harder for Granite Staters to get the care they rely on,” Montgomery said.
She was responding to comments Vance made Saturday following a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.
“On the question of defunding Planned Parenthood, look, I mean our view is we don’t think that taxpayers should fund late-term abortions,” he said. “That has been a consistent view of the Trump campaign the first time around. It will remain a consistent view.”
Federal law forbids the use of public dollars for abortion.
In her statement Wednesday, Montgomery said the state’s family planning program, which once included Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, has led to New Hampshire having some of the lowest unintended pregnancy and teen pregnancy rates in the country and some of the best maternal health outcomes.
“However, rising STI rates and ongoing efforts to defund this program threaten this progress,” she said.
Last fiscal year, over 11,000 Granite Staters relied on four Planned Parenthood health centers in New Hampshire for affordable health care.