The New Hampshire Medical Society (NHMS) this week pushed its physician members to sign a letter drafted by Planned Parenthood New Hampshire urging the governor not to ban late-term abortions, according to a whistleblower.
A ban on abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy is included in the state budget that is currently making its way through New Hampshire’s Republican-controlled legislature. A doctor who performs an abortion after that point would be guilty of a felony, carrying a prison sentence of up to seven years and a fine of $10,000 or more, according to the provision, which prompted an uproar from Democrats and abortion advocates.
“This language is a clear interference between the doctor-patient relationship and goes on to criminalize providers for performing this procedure,” the NHMS said in a June 9 email to members, which was provided to The Daily Wire by a whistleblower who requested that they remain anonymous.
“Planned Parenthood NH has drafted a letter they plan to send to the Governor and are hoping to have physicians signed on to show opposition to this section of the budget,” continued the email, which included a link to sign the letter online. “You can review the letter and sign on here.”
A note at the top of the form to sign Planned Parenthood’s letter says that physicians who have questions about it may contact either Kayla Montgomery, Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund’s Senior Director of Public Affairs, or Michael Padmore, the NHMS’s director of advocacy, who sent the email to physicians encouraging them to sign.
“We, as medical professionals in the state of New Hampshire, strongly oppose the medically unjustified regulation of health care as proposed in the current state budget,” reads Planned Parenthood’s letter.
The “arbitrary ban on abortion later in pregnancy” in the state budget “interferes with the patient-provider relationship in complex circumstances,” the letter complains.
“This language has no health or safety benefit to patients. It overrides a clinician’s judgment with a government mandate, compromises evidence-based, patient-centered care, and represents ill-advised interference in the practice of medicine,” the letter reads. “We urge Governor Sununu to trust New Hampshire’s medical experts by vetoing the state budget.”
The letter adds that the signing physicians are “especially alarmed” that the ban criminalizes late-term abortion and threatens abortionists with prison time.
“New Hampshire already struggles to retain medical professionals, and we are deeply concerned that these criminal penalties will undermine our state’s efforts to recruit and retain clinicians,” the letter says. “Furthermore, these criminal penalties will erode trust between medical experts and the public. Patients, in consultation with clinicians, must have the ability to make these personal medical decisions without government interference. Replacing clinical judgement with government mandates irreparably compromises patient autonomy and consent.”
The New Hampshire Medical Society did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the letter or their relationship with Planned Parenthood.
Last week, Governor Chris Sununu, a Republican, said he would not veto the state budget over the provision prohibiting abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
“I’m a pro-choice governor, but like most citizens of the state of New Hampshire, I do not think that we should be doing late-term or at-the-very-last-minute-type abortions,” Sununu said. “That’s all this really touches upon. And I think most people agree that that’s not appropriate. So, no, I wouldn’t necessarily veto a budget over that.”