HB 1283, relative to end of life options, would implement state-sanctioned suicide for those facing an illness which a physician has predicted would be terminal within 6 months.
After a public hearing on February 7, HB 1283 has been scheduled for an executive session on Wednesday, February 21, at 2:00pm, in the Legislative Office Building, room 206-208. Last week, the Judiciary Committee discussed amending the bill in an effort to collect more support. Let us be clear; state-sanctioned suicide is unacceptable and deeply harmful in any form.
During the public hearing, we heard powerful personal testimonies in opposition to HB 1283 from members of the disability, suicide prevention, and brain injury communities, faith leaders, and more. Check out the highlights on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and share to amplify these voices!
We also heard alarming testimony in support of the bill, with outrageous claims such as those who choose natural death die without dignity, and suicide itself, even in healthy individuals, can be a good and peaceful thing. It is of vital importance that the Judiciary Committee hear from us on the dangers of state-sanctioned suicide.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
We urge you to contact the House Judiciary Committee to register your opposition to the bill, and urge them to vote ITL on HB 1283. Additionally, please ask the Committee to vote NO on ANYamendments to the bill. You can find contact info for the members here or email the full committee at HouseJudiciaryCommittee@leg.state.nh.us.
During an executive session, the committee will vote to recommend the bill as OTP (ought to pass) or ITL (inexpedient to legislate). There is no opportunity for public testimony during this session.
Assisted suicide should never be a course of action the state should sanction. Caring, not killing, is the right approach when we’re faced with a physician’s prognosis or any distressing life situation.
Support Transparency from New Hampshire Schools
Act now: ask your senator to support a floor amendment to SB 219
SB 219, The Students First Act, is an important bill that will crack down on sprawling, expensive school administration in New Hampshire and ensure that our education spending puts students and teachers first.
The amended version of SB 219, passed by the NH State Senate last month, would shed light onNew Hampshire’s systemic misuse of education spending by requiring school districts to report administrative expenses to the public before school budget meetings.
These reports will prove to voters that they are being duped. Despite decades of ever rising school expenses and taxes throughout New Hampshire, very little school tax increases are going to teacher pay. Instead, school districts are creating well-paid, left-wing administrative bureaucracies focused on expensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and staffing, all at the expense of teachers and students.
However, when the Senate Finance Committee took up the bill again last week to consider the fiscal note, they gutted the bill’s enforcement mechanism. Thisrenders the bill meaningless and without consequences for failing to report these expenditures.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
On Thursday, February 22, the full Senate will vote on the now faulty and meaningless committee bill. Before it’s too late, the State Senate must, in the form of a floor amendment, amend the bill to put the enforcement language back in.
We urge you to contact your Senatorto ask them to support a floor amendment to SB 219 to restore the penalties and the supporting enforcement mechanism. We must take a firm stand to prevent school administrators from concealing this information while continuing to quietly prioritize “diversity, equity, and inclusion” over the foundational quality of school education.
Protect Babies from Fatal Abandonment or Abuse
Cornerstone is joining the bi-partisan effort to bring safe baby surrender boxes to the Granite State through the efforts to pass HB 1607, relative to expanded safe haven protections. This bill will strengthen New Hampshire’s Baby Safe Haven Law, empowering 24 hour hospitals, along with fully staffed police and fire stations, to take in unwanted and vulnerable babies.
Watch below as Rep. Katy Peternel explains how these boxes would work at last week’s House Health and Human Services Committee hearing.
Along with providing the opportunity for safe baby surrender boxes, HB 1607 would expand the age limit for surrendered babies from 7 days to 61 days and prevent parents from being prosecuted for crimes discovered as a result of relinquishing their child. To learn more, read our blog post here.
Please also share this video on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to help build momentum around this life-saving legislation!
This constitutional amendment would attack vulnerable life in the Granite State, and enshrine abortion in our state constitution.
Thankfully, the amendment was defeated by a vote of 14-9 along party lines, with one democrat absent. We thank the Senate for voting in line with with 68% of Granite Staters who favor limits on abortion.
Every Democrat senator supports the abortion of a viable infant up to the moment the baby’s head crowns, a baby that could be delivered and survive outside the womb. Please take a moment to thank the Republican senators who voted to protect these vulnerable lives against such brutality and voted in support of life. You can find a list of all senators and their contact information here.
