Group based in Massachusetts launches online guide to abortion access in New England – New Hampshire Bulletin – New Hampshire Bulletin
A Massachusetts-based reproductive rights group has launched an online guide to abortion access in New England, citing threats to abortion access including New Hampshire’s new 24-week ban.
Reproductive Equity Now, formerly NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts Foundation, lists eight abortion providers in New Hampshire, how may weeks into a pregnancy they’ll terminate, and what to know about using insurance to cover abortion costs. For those on Medicaid or public health insurance, coverage is available only in cases involving rape, incest, or if the pregnancy threatens the life or health of the mother, for example.
The site also prominently notes what it does not include: links to centers that say they educate women on abortion without providing abortions or referrals to providers or, in some cases, emergency contraception. On their websites some centers describe themselves as an alternative to an “abortion clinic,” and include links to blogs calling abortion murder.
Reproductive Equity Now explains why on its site: “They tend to ‘counsel’ a pregnant woman by engaging in a lengthy discussion about fetal development, providing misinformation about the alleged ’dangers’ of abortion, and pressuring the individual to choose parenthood or adoption,” it says.
Finding sources of financial help for abortions is harder to find.
The financial aid page directs users primarily to insurance options with a link in a small font that lists additional private sources, including the Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire started in 2019. As of this week, the nonprofit had spent more than $84,000 helping more than 220 patients pay for abortions they could not afford.
New Hampshire’s new abortion restriction makes an exception after 24 weeks for the life or health of the mother but not for rape, incest, or fatal fetal anomalies that would prevent a baby from surviving on its own outside the womb.
A Republican-sponsored bill that has narrowly passed the House and is before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week would add an exception for a fatal fetal anomaly. In February, the Senate rejected amending the law to include that exception.
