The Supreme Court’s plan to overturn Roe v. Wade has put the fight for reproductive rights at the center of the New Hampshire Senate race.
New Hampshire is one of the most pro-choice states in the country — yet all of Senator Hassan’s opponents have long anti-choice records. Just last week, Chuck Morse cast the deciding vote in the State Senate against codifying abortion rights and Kevin Smith promised his supporters he will end “abortion once and for all.” And this morning, Maggie for NH released a new digital ad making clear that all of Senator Hassan’s opponents would be a yes vote for a nationwide abortion ban, which Mitch McConnell has said is on the table if Republicans retake the majority. As MSNBC’s Garrett Haake noted, the ad “pulled no punches.”
With the Republican Senate candidates going all in on an extreme agenda to criminalize abortion and punish women, reproductive freedom will be on the ballot in November.
Senator Hassan Speaks Out Against Her Opponents’ Support for Overturning Roe
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Politico: Vulnerable Senate Dems campaign as last hope against abortion ban
“Hassan is warning of an even more dire future after the court’s final ruling, expected next month. New Hampshire lacks the backstop that Nevada has, meaning the state or Congress could quickly move to restrict abortion access should the Supreme Court overturn Roe. “If my opponents get this seat, they will support the kind of national abortion ban that’s now being talked about,” Hassan warns. “There are no protections in New Hampshire right now.”
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Politico Playbook: Democrats go on offense over abortion
New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan has a new digital ad going up today linking her GOP opponents to what the narrator calls “McConnell’s decadelong crusade to criminalize abortion.” “The Republican primary candidates have spent their careers proving that they would be in lockstep with McConnell’s agenda of criminalizing abortion and punishing women,” Hassan’s campaign manager Aaron Jacobs will say in a statement accompanying the ad, previewed exclusively by Playbook.
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Associated Press: Sudden abortion focus shakes midterm election landscape
From New Hampshire, Hassan said the leaked opinion clarifies the stakes this fall for voters in her state and beyond. She called a potential Roe reversal “devastating to women all across New Hampshire, all across the country and for all people who really believe in our individual freedoms.” An abortion focus would also offer a sharp contrast with her Republican opponents, whom she described as “extremists” on abortion. “This is really a difficult day for Granite State women, American women,” Hassan said.
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Bloomberg: Democrats latch onto Roe rollback in battle for Senate
“My Republican opponents have a clear record of working to eviscerate women’s reproductive health rights,” Hassan said in an interview at the U.S. Capitol. “The stakes could not be higher in this election, and I’ll continue to make that contrast.”
Senator Hassan’s Opponents All Support an Anti-Choice Agenda — and Reproductive Freedom is a Major Issue in New Hampshire’s US Senate race
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Axios: These GOP Senate candidates oppose most exceptions to abortion bans
Chuck Morse, former president of the state’s Senate, helped write and pass a state budget that included a ban on abortions after 24 weeks — with no exceptions for rape, incest or for fetal viability, according to the Concord Monitor.
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Politico: Massachusetts Playbook: SCOTUS shockwaves could shake N.H. Senate race
Hassan, who supports abortion rights, is running against a slew of Republicans who oppose them to varying degrees. State Senate President Chuck Morse, who helped pass a 24-week abortion ban last year, touted his “pro-life record” in a statement after POLITICO published the draft opinion. Retired Gen. Don Bolduc said “if the Court rules as indicated, I believe they made the right call.” Kevin Smith, a former executive director of conservative advocacy group Cornerstone Action, blasted Hassan and “the extremists in Washington” who he said “support late-term abortions and taxpayer-funded abortions.”
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Boston Globe: In 2 key New England races, the candidates disagree over abortion — and the outcomes could have a major impact
Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat who favors abortion rights, is in a neck and neck contest with a large Republican field, almost all of whom oppose them. Among the leading Republican candidates is state Senate President Chuck Morse, who has boasted of his opposition to abortion rights, and Kevin Smith, who once led New Hampshire’s top social conservative interest group.
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InDepthNH: Shock waves greet SCOTUS leak signaling Roe v. Wade will be overturned
Senate President Chuck Morse, R-Salem, who voted against HB 1609 and is running in a crowded field for U.S. Senate on the Republican side for a seat held by Democrat Maggie Hassan, said he supported the leaked draft and believes that every state should “have the right to govern policy in their respective states.” Morse said on Twitter that the potential decision will have no impact on New Hampshire, adding that he is proud of his pro-life stance and noted the recent decision to limit abortions later in pregnancy is consistent with New Hampshire values.
As One of the Most Pro-Choice States in the Nation, Protecting Reproductive Rights Is a Major Issue for Granite Staters
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Axios: Roe leak reshapes election campaigns for Democrats
What they’re saying: Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who leads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told Axios that abortion will be “a new energizing factor now that it’s no longer abstract; it’s very real.” “New Hampshire is probably the most pro-choice state in the union,” Peters said, positioning Sen. Maggie Hassan, the Democratic incumbent who supports abortion rights, against “Republican candidates who are 180 degrees different.”
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WHDH: NH legislators fear more abortion restrictions
New Hampshire legislators said they’re concerned the Supreme Court possibly overturning Roe v. Wade could lead to more abortion restrictions in the Granite State. […] “If we don’t do something to enshrine the rights of women and their families into law now then we can see ourselves continuously watching abortion care and access to reproductive rights dismantled in the state,” said state Sen. Sue Prentis.
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Concord Monitor: Abortion rights supporters voice anger and disappointment over draft Supreme Court document
The list of speakers outside the State House Tuesday night to discuss abortion rights included U.S. Reps. Annie Kuster, Chris Pappas and State Sen. Becky Whitley. […] Another speaker was Jillian Andrews Dubois, a board member at the Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire, which helps raise money to help women pay for abortions.
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Concord Monitor: Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade could reignite abortion fight in NH
As the director of the Equality Health Center in Concord for the past 12 years, she’s [Dalia Vidunas] seen repeated bills at the state level that sought to restrict a woman’s access to abortion and legislative efforts to restrict funding to clinics like hers that provide abortions. She has no doubt those efforts will increase if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, leaving it up to states to decide if abortion should be allowed or outlawed.
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WBZ Boston: Senator Hassan: “Justices can parse this any way they want, but at the end of the day, if a woman can’t be trusted to make her own health care decisions, if a woman can’t be trusted to determine what’s best for her own health, and her family and her future, then women are not living in full freedom and they’re not being included as full and equal citizens in our democracy.”
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New England Cable News: Senator Hassan: “It means that we have to renew our efforts in Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act which would codify Roe v Wade across the country and make sure that women have access to this critical care when and where they need it.”
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WMUR: Senator Hassan: “I am concerned that, as it appears to be from reports, to be a complete overturning of Roe vs. Wade.”
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Boston 25: Senator Hassan: “The unconfirmed SCOTUS opinion would be devastating for women’s freedom. With a woman’s right to live as a free and equal citizen under attack, Congress needs to codify Roe v. Wade now more than ever.”