A bill moving through the New Hampshire legislature could offer significant legal protection to the state’s pregnancy resource centers — organizations that provide free services to women facing unplanned pregnancies.
House Bill 1416, introduced by Rep. Sam Farrington, would prohibit the state and municipalities from requiring pregnancy resource centers to perform abortions, provide contraception, or refer clients for those services. This is a straightforward protection of conscience rights for organizations whose mission is explicitly oriented toward supporting mothers and babies — and it’s exactly the kind of commonsense legislation we believe our legislature should be passing.
Pregnancy resource centers operate across our state, offering services like free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, counseling, baby supplies, and parenting support — most of the time at no cost to clients. Many are faith-based and run largely on volunteer labor and private donations. For their directors and staff, the prospect of being compelled by local or state government to offer services that contradict their mission is not a hypothetical threat but a real and growing concern, given similar mandates attempted in other states. These centers serve some of the most vulnerable women and children in New Hampshire, and they deserve our protection.
We believe the case for HB 1416 is simple: no organization should be forced by the government to act against its core values, especially organizations doing such vital work in our communities.
The bill passed the New Hampshire House last month on a vote of 176 to 163. The margin was closer than we had hoped — every House Democrat voted against it, and six Republicans crossed the aisle to oppose it as well. Still, it cleared the chamber and advanced to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration.
On May 12, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 3-2 to recommend HB 1416 “Ought to Pass With Amendment” — unfortunately, said amendment would gut the bill’s original protections and replace them with a study committee tasked with examining whether there is even a need to protect pregnancy resource centers in the first place. Let’s be clear – a study committee on HB 1416 is a study committee on whether or not these centers have the right to exist at all. Rather than extending a basic legal shield to organizations serving women in crisis, the amended bill sends the message that the mere existence of pregnancy resource centers is controversial — and that New Hampshire is politically unwilling to offer even the most minimal protections to them. The amendment doesn’t delay action; it replaces action with doubt, treating the legitimacy of these centers as an open question rather than a settled one.
The bill now heads to the full Senate, and this is where your voice matters most. We urge every New Hampshire resident who cares about these centers — and every woman or family who has ever been served by one — to contact their state senator today. You can find your senator here.