Week of February 8, 2021
This Week: Three Important Hearings on Life Bills!
Your support can help protect the preborn in NH!
In the first days of the coming week, three crucial life bills are coming before the House Judiciary Committee. Opposition to these bills is organized and fierce. Last week, at a hearing for the HB 20, the Education Freedom Bill, which is supported by Cornerstone, over 3,000 people signed in to oppose the bill, five times the number who signed in in support. With the upcoming pro-life bills being reviewed this week, they will fight even harder. Act now to give these bills the support needed to pass.
Currently, New Hampshire allows abortion during all 40 weeks of pregnancy. The most important of these bills, HB 625, would prohibit aborting preborn children starting at the 24th week. The New Hampshire Medical Society recently send out an email to its subscribers urging them to take action against legislators’ efforts to put minimal state safeguards in place for preborn children. Their email was nearly a word-for-word parroting of the email sent by Planned Parenthood of New Hampshire to its followers. Clearly there is a coordinated effort to drown out commonsense voices in the state. It is vital that the champions of life and liberty in New Hampshire raise their voice in support of these bills.
WHAT CAN I DO?
1. Testimony from medical professionals carries significant weight. We need physicians willing to submit spoken testimony in favor of the bills. If you know of any medical experts who would be willing to express their support, please contact us so we can reach out to them.
2. Due to COVID-19 restrictions on meeting in person, the New Hampshire House and Senate are accepting testimony online – not at the State House. Using the bill links on our new action center website page, you can email the committee and immediately sign in to the hearing to voice your support of these critical life bills.
- If you take only one action, please “sign in” in support of HB 625, the Fetal Life Protection Act, which is being heard at 9 AM on Tuesday the 9th before the Judiciary Committee. You may sign in at any time–starting now–and can sign in without testifying. (Remember that thousands of people recently “signed in” in opposition to Cornerstone-supported legislation.)
3. You can submit email testimony expressing your support for a bill. This testimony will be included in the record of the committee meeting.
Important Information on Testimony: Not everyone needs to testify in support of these bills. We hope to focus the committee on key testimony and not overwhelm members with testimony from large numbers of people. In most cases, we encourage you to voice your support by emailing the committee and “signing in” virtually before the hearing and ask you urge others to do the same.
However, if you have a distinct contribution to make, you may also testify after signing in and attending the hearing for HB 625 remotely. Be sure to check “I wish to speak on this bill” during the sign-in process, or you will not be allowed to testify. Begin your testimony by introducing yourself, including your name and town/city of residence, and specifying the bill you are testifying on as some hearings are covering multiple bills. All testimony is limited to no more than 2-3 minutes.
To make it easier to find, you can remotely attend the hearing for HB 625 directly through this link.
Continue reading below for more information about the individual bills.
COMMITTEE HEARINGS THIS WEEK
HB 625 the Fetal Life Protection Act
WHEN: Tuesday, February 9, 9:00 am via Zoom, House Judiciary Committee
CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone SUPPORTS HB 625
WHY: New Hampshire is one of only a handful of states that does not ban abortion at any point in a woman’s pregnancy. A viable child can be legally aborted at any point before birth. While no law is perfect, a prohibition that begins at the specific time period of 24 weeks (a generally accepted standard of the baby’s ability to live outside the womb) is clearer than a non-specific “viability” ban and gives more notice to providers and to women of what the law is. Read more on our position on this bill here.
TAKE ACTION NOW
HB 430 Repealing the Prohibition on Entering or Remaining on a Public Way or Sidewalk Adjacent to a Reproductive Health Care Facility
WHEN: Tuesday, February 9, 2:00 pm via Zoom, House Judiciary Committee
CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone SUPPORTS HB 625
WHY: Read more about our position on this bill here.
TAKE ACTION NOW
HB 434 Prohibiting the Use of Public Funds for Abortion
WHEN: Wednesday, February 10, 9:00 am via Zoom, House Judiciary Committee
CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone SUPPORTS HB 625.
WHY: Read more about our position on this bill here.
TAKE ACTION NOW
Update on Recent Legislative Action
HB20 The Richard “Dick” Hinch Education Freedom Account Program
STATUS: Last week’s hearing will be continued this week. During the hearing this past Tuesday 600 people signed in in support of the bill, 3,000 signed in to oppose it, and 131 people signed up to testify.
WHEN: The hearing will be continued Thursday, February 11, 9:00 am
CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone SUPPORTS this bill. For more information read our recent blog post on the bill.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Visit our new action center for ways you can be heard on this bill.
