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NH House Passes 24 Hour Abortion Waiting Period Provision

The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted yesterday in favor of a bill that requires a woman seeking an abortion to wait 24 hours from the time of the consultation with the doctor or abortion provider to the time she undergoes the abortion. Last month, the New Hampshire State Senate voted against a different bill that sought to impose the 24 hours waiting period. The provisions that passed in the House yesterday were added to a business tax-credit bill.

The New Hampshire House Finance Committee tried to remove the 24-hour waiting period provision, but the House voted to pass the bill with the provision in a 198-100 vote. Lawmakers arguing against the provisions said that the tax-credit bill will most likely be defeated in the State Senate because of the added anti-abortion provision.

One member of the House told the The Huffington Post that “what we have done is take a good piece of fiscal legislation and condemn the legislation to death on the other side of the wall. We’ve hijacked the bill.”

26 States require a 24 hour waiting period. Last week, Utah became the first state to enact a mandatory 72-hour waiting period.

Huffington Post 5/16/12; Concord Monitor 5/16/12; AP 5/15/12; Feminist Daily News Wire 5/10/12

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