By Zoe McGuirk
Art by Uma Alagappan
CW: mentions of abortion, rape
Abortion restrictions do not save lives — they hurt them.
How can we speak of the senses without an honorable mention to the searing, visceral rage which consumes so many of us as we watch reproductive healthcare rights get stripped away from millions each day? This is nothing new. However, the rate at which these infractions are occurring has not been this dramatic since the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. This year, 2021, is shaping up to be the most hostile year in recent history for the defense of reproductive healthcare. Already, we have seen a disproportionate uptick in the number of attacks against our rights to legal, accessible, affordable, safe, and equitable abortions and other forms of reproductive healthcare across the country.[1] Notably, the six-week abortion ban in Texas has millions worried for the Roe v. Wade precedent, and we have seen ripples of that bill which we have seen extend into our own New Hampshire political arena at Dartmouth College.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, there have been 561 abortion restrictions — including 165 bans — proposed in 47 states, in the mere six months between January and June 2021. What’s more, 16 states have actually enacted 83 of those restrictions, which includes 10 bans.[2] It is important to note, this is not even the most comprehensive tally of restrictions to reproductive rights occurring. These numbers do not cover, for instance, what has since happened in New Hampshire or Texas.
On that note, let’s revisit the situation in Texas. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the ban, Senate Bill 8, to go into effect on Sept. 1, 2021, following a challenge against it on the grounds of the Roe precedent. The bill effectively bans all abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, containing no exceptions for circumstances including rape, incest, or fetal health conditions which result in the fetus being “incompatible with life after birth.”[3] Bans similar to this one are commonplace (although the timeline is more conservative than most others of its nature), except for this kicker: the enforcement of this ban relies on private citizens to seek lawsuits and sue for injunctions against abortions. Anyone who aids a pregnant individual in seeking an abortion — even Uber and taxi drivers — can be sued.[4] This is bullshit.
In June 2021, Republican Governor Chris Sununu signed into law a 24-week abortion ban in New Hampshire. This ban, which was swept into the Governor’s budget, also requires expensive ultrasounds prior to abortion at any stage in the pregnancy, and it imposes criminal charges against abortion providers. The language is vague, however. It also allows either parent (if married; if not married, then only the abortion-seeker), as well as the abortion-seeker’s parents (if the individual is a minor), to file lawsuits for psychological and/or physical injuries, though the law does not specify who or what party is to be sued.[5]
A fun fact: in 2020, New Hampshire proposed a similar six-week abortion ban. Right here, under our noses. Now, it didn’t make it out of the then Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, but its sponsors have said that it will be refiled in the next session, with House Republicans instilled with a refreshed sense of hope following the 24-week ban instituted this year. Some New Hampshire Republicans have gone as far as to express the hope for the enactment of the state’s very own incentive system for private individuals to sue those who seek, aid in seeking, or provide abortions.
In recent news, New Hampshire has defunded Planned Parenthood! Mind you, they provide services such as ultrasounds! Which are required under NH law prior to abortions! The hypocrisy!! Furthermore, abortions are not even funded by the state, nor were they prior to the cancellation of the state’s contracts with Planned Parenthood.
Here’s the backstory… The New Hampshire Executive Council is a body composed of five elected officials; each represents an equal amount of the NH population. They are meant to keep the Governor in check, and they deal with much of the state’s finances in regards to state contracts, etc. In September 2021, the Council voted to cut contracts with three reproductive healthcare providers in the state: Lovering Health Center, Equality Health Center, and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (all abortion providers, though the abortion services are not state funded). The very Executive Councilor who represents our population of Dartmouth students, Joe Kenney of Wakefield, was one of four members of the council who voted to reject the contracts.[6] The only Democrat (and woman) on the council, Cinde Warmington of Concord, was the sole vote in support of the contracts. Even the four Republicans who voted to terminate the contracts are out of line with their party’s current leader, GOP Governor Chris Sununu. Sununu is cited as claiming himself to be a “pro-choice governor,” though when confronted with the choice to have these contracts come under discussion again, Sununu has failed to act. [7]
The central theme throughout the entirety of this shithole: hypocrisy and a complete and utter lack of empathy. Take, for instance, the fact that the number and frequency of unsafe abortions is proven to increase when policies restrict safe, legal abortion access; that denying pregant individuals of abortions has been proven to result in new or worsening mental health conditions, notably depression and/or anxiety; that restriction and banning of abortions disproportionately affects queer and LGBTQ individuals, individuals of color, individuals in low-income areas, and those in rural or medically underserved communities.[8] If those in power who are responsible for these attacks on reproductive rights actually cared about the “pro-life cause,” they would consider these truths, and invest more attention and political capital into currently underfunded and mishandled social welfare programs. These include housing, education, infrastructure, transportation, childcare, the foster care system, and yes, healthcare. Abortion restrictions do not save lives — they hurt them.
[1]Planned Parenthood, “Timeline of Attacks on Abortion,” (Planned Parenthood Action Fund), https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/timeline-attacks-abortion.
[2]Elizabeth Nash and Lauren Cross, “2021 Is on Track to Become the Most Devastating Antiabortion State Legislative Session in Decades,” (Guttmacher Institute, July 9, 2021), https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2021/04/2021-track-become-most-devastating-antiabortion-state-legislative-session-decades.
[3]Relating To Abortion, Including Abortions After Detection of an Unborn Child’s Heartbeat; Authorizing a Private Civil Right of Action, Texas Senate Bill 8, 87th Legislature, (Texas 2021).
[4]Michael Hiltzik, “Column: That Texas Anti-Abortion Law Is so Much Worse than You Imagined. Here's How,” Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles Times, October 8, 2021), https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-10-08/texas-anti-abortion-law-much-worse-than-you-thought.
[4]Annmarie Timmins, “Ripples of New Texas Abortion Law Make Their Way to N.H.,” (New Hampshire Public Radio, September 8, 2021), https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2021-09-08/ripples-of-new-texas-abortion-law-make-their-way-to-n-h.
[5]Paula Tracy, “N.H. Executive Council Votes to Defund Planned Parenthood - Conway Daily Sun. N.H. Executive Council Votes to Defund Planned Parenthood” (The Conway Daily Sun, September 16, 2021), https://www.conwaydailysun.com/n-h-executive-council-votes-to-defund-planned-parenthood/article_fbdfef6c-1678-11ec-9c53-c3433f7ff91c.html.
[6]Josh Rogers and Rick Ganley, “Where Does Gov. Sununu Stand on Abortion and Systemic Racism?,” (New Hampshire Public Radio, June 17, 2021), https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2021-06-16/where-does-gov-sununu-stand-on-abortion-and-systemic-racism.
[7]“Abortion and Mental Health,” American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association), https://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/abortion/.