I’ve been listening to the words some of our politicians use to frame their stand on publicly-funded abortion – terms such as “access,” “reproductive rights,” and “women’s health issues.” These are words constantly repeated in the political arena, words carefully selected to assuage any doubt, words that seemingly promise freedom, choice, and a healthier future for a woman choosing to terminate her viable pregnancy …
Abortion advocates this coming election season will be talking about abortion access. What they’re really after is access to your conscience and your wallet. The time to slap down that idea is now. Fresh off a legislative session that saw defeat for things like abortion statistics and conscience rights for medical professionals, New Hampshire’s abortion advocates are gearing up to promote the election of …
Chris Sununu is no victim. He is a man of purpose and intention. It took such a person to wrest control of the State House from the Democrats who had held the corner office for so long. And now, as he is poised to sign destructive legislation on gender, he and his surrogates are putting out the message that opponents of these bills had …
Could the state take a child away from a parent who does not want the child to receive cross-sex hormones and amputation of healthy body parts? An Ohio court has told us the answer: yes. When transgender identity is treated as a non-elective medical procedure, that’s where the child welfare and legal systems inevitably lead. From CNN.com, February 16, 2018, “Judge gives grandparents custody …
The New Hampshire Senate today killed SB 490 on a 12-10 vote. This attempt to establish an “end-of-life study committee” would have been a step toward an assisted suicide law for New Hampshire, as the sponsor made clear in her speech introducing the bill. This vote is a statement that New Hampshire does not want to go down that road. The twelve senators voting …
Shortly before the 2016 election, then-candidate Chris Sununu – who had a mixed record as an executive councilor when it came to funding abortion providers – wrote that he would support five specific “common sense” initiatives long pursued by pro-life voters. In an open letter addressed to attorney Ovide Lamontagne, Sununu cited “healthcare freedom of conscience” as one of them. We hope the legislature …
Your doctor shouldn’t have to leave her convictions at the office door when she comes to work. On Tuesday, February 20, at 10:00 a.m., a House committee will consider HB 1787-FN. This bill would prohibit discrimination against health care providers who object on religious, moral, or ethical grounds to participating in providing or facilitating abortion, artificial contraception, or sterilization. The full text of the …
Medical Conscience Rights: Cornerstone Supports HB 1787-FNRead More »
Cornerstone Action’s executive director Shannon McGinley released this statement following the vote by the New Hampshire House to table HB 1511, a proposed change to the fetal homicide law. Cornerstone was proud to stand by the families whose hard work resulted in the passage of a fetal homicide law last year. The law currently allows (but does not require) prosecutors to bring a homicide …
Remarks on Tabling HB 1511, Proposed Amendment to Fetal Homicide Law (2018)Read More »
The House Health and Human Services Committee (HHS) has recommended passage of an abortion statistics bill, HB 471. Time and again, efforts to pass a statistics law have fallen short. The House can put that sorry history behind it in the first week of the 2018 legislative session, by accepting the committee’s “ought to pass with amendment” recommendation. New Hampshire is one of only …
Time for N.H. House to Pass Abortions Statistics BillRead More »
The House Criminal Justice Committee has voted 14-6 to recommend “ought to pass as amended” on HB 287, to study decriminalizing prostitution. Cornerstone urges legislators to reject the committee report and instead vote “inexpedient to legislate” on HB 287. When the bill was introduced, and throughout the work sessions this fall on the bill, Cornerstone urged that the bill shift its focus to a …
Two bills written to interfere with licensed counselors, HB 587 and SB 244, will get House votes in January 2018 after being retained by the House Health and Human Services Committee last spring. These two bills are about what sponsors call “conversion therapy,” but the truth is that these bills would create a therapy ban for licensed counselors working with minors struggling with same-sex …
Therapy Bans: Committee Says “No,” and Cornerstone AgreesRead More »
“We don’t do policy.” Cornerstone heard from supporters who got that reply from an Executive Councilor who was explaining how he simply couldn’t deny state funds to abortion providers for non-abortion work. All he could do, he asserted, was approve what had been negotiated between the bidders and the state Department of Health and Human Services. Guess again, Councilor – and pay attention, voters. New Hampshire …
Three Executive Councilors just awarded family planning contracts to ten agencies, including three known providers of surgical abortions. More of your money was given to Planned Parenthood, the Equality Center, and the Joan Lovering Center when Republican Russell Prescott joined Democrats Andru Volinsky and Chris Pappas in voting Yes. Councilor Prescott’s vote is particularly distressing, given his pro-life record when he was in the …
Executive Council Once Again Hands Over Your Money to Abortion ProvidersRead More »
Cornerstone Education Liaison Ann Marie Banfield responds to a recent commentary by Executive Councilors Andru Volinsky and Chris Pappas, published in several New Hampshire news outlets. The recently-published criticism aimed at Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut by Executive Councilors Andru Volinsky and Chris Pappas made me wonder: are the Councilors bothered that Edelblut is working hard to improve public education in New Hampshire? Volinsky and Pappas …
Ed. Commissioner Supports Higher Standards, As Councilors Play PoliticsRead More »
We hear with great sadness of the death of little Charlie Gard, who has died in hospice after his parents were denied the opportunity to provide experimental medical treatment for him. His life and death, and his parents’ heroic defense of their son’s dignity, make us all think about the dignity of people with disabilities, the rights of parents, and the power of the …
Whenever the New Hampshire Executive Council awards a contract to an abortion provider, someone in the room is bound to remark that the funds are for non-abortion work or that taxpayers aren’t funding abortions. That doesn’t tell the whole story. New Hampshire state funds might not go directly for abortion, but they go to abortion providers. That’s a distinction without a difference. When voting …
President Trump’s executive order on religious liberty is a small step in the right direction after the hostility of the previous Administration. Even so, the limited scope of the President’s order is a disappointment, and therefore we hope it is the beginning of a process and not the end of one. It would be a mistake to view the President’s order as a special …
President Trump’s Religious Liberty Executive OrderRead More »
For years, Cornerstone has consistently opposed the expansion of legalized gambling in New Hampshire for both moral and pragmatic reasons. We believe the net societal effect of government’s embrace of gambling has been disastrous. We have expressed these concerns to this committee in past legislative sessions, but they bear repeating. Legalized gambling is driven by and subsists on greed: For this reason, the activity …
Another Casino Bill: Still a Bad Idea (SB 242, 2017)Read More »
A state budget increase that seems designed to divert taxpayer money to the region’s abortion providers is a bad idea, particularly in view of critical public health issues in New Hampshire. A significant amount of family planning money comes to New Hampshire from the federal government via the Title X program. Family planning contracts in New Hampshire are then customarily granted to multiple vendors, …
Legislators, Say No to Doubling the Family Planning BudgetRead More »
Pending some communication between Governor Sununu and all the members of the New Hampshire Board of Education, the Executive Council delayed a vote on Frank Edelblut’s nomination to be Commissioner of Education. The Council meets again on February 15, and three of the five Councilors have indicated support for the nomination. We hope that the Council makes it unanimous, putting the interests of New …
by Bryan McCormack, Executive Director Having grown up in the Granite State, I have had the pleasure of enjoying all the marvels of our great state. From our rugged mountains all the way to our frozen lakes, there is so much beauty in the New Hampshire brand. However, there is one more beauty that I became acquainted with as I grew into the political …
First In the Nation Voters, Seize Your OpportunityRead More »
Who has legal standing to fight in court for women’s health? More precisely, who has standing to challenge an entity that dispenses chemical-abortion drugs in violation of federal Food and Drug Administration protocols? Not New Hampshire taxpayers, and not a New Hampshire pro-life group representing thousands of members. That was the decision of the New Hampshire Supreme Court on October 23, as it brought …
NH Supreme Court: Business as Usual for PP (For Now)Read More »
The new Common Core Standards (CCSS) have generated controversy around the country. In a recent Huffington Post article, “How the Common Core Lost Teacher Support”, Peter Green explains why support among teachers is plummeting. Green highlights the numerous reasons why teachers are seeing significant problems associated with this latest education reform fad. Within this latest education reform is the data mining of information on …
Beyond “Smarter Balance”: Protecting Student PrivacyRead More »
Quick – how do you recognize a pro-life, pro-family, pro-religious-liberty candidate? Trick question. There is no “quick” way. But doesn’t party affiliation do the sorting for us? No. Remember that five of the sponsors of New Hampshire’s “buffer zone” law are Democrats, and three are Republicans. Casinos and their social costs were kept out of New Hampshire by a single vote earlier this year – …
Freedom and equality under the law for all. In New Hampshire, we sometimes take this for granted. But our state constitution says that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied to anyone on account of race, creed, color, sex, or national origin. Yet twenty-three New Hampshire senators seemingly want to pick and choose who gets freedom and equal treatment, and who …
As yet another abortion-statistics bill approaches a vote in the New Hampshire House, one legislator’s words stand out. Rep. Don LeBrun (R-Nashua) wrote an explanation for his committee’s recommendation that HB 1502 be sent for interim study. Here is what he had to say, as printed in the House calendar: “The committee is committed to collect any meaningful public health data in an aggregated …
Abortion Statistics: Putting Down a Marker for Women’s HealthRead More »
First off, let me say that I am grateful for the amount of media coverage that Pope Francis’ remarks have received. It is important that his message of love and compassion within the Catholic Church be communicated to everyone. It is equally important to draw attention to the fact that the media has focused so much on just a small part of the Holy …
About two years ago, Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice (DOJ) handed down a ruling that overturned longstanding precedent to legalize online gaming. For more than 50 years, the Wire Act was interpreted by Justice Departments in Republican and Democrat Administrations to prohibit gambling over wires, which came to include the internet. Now, thanks to the DOJ’s unilateral decision to permit …
Thank you Senator Ayotte for speaking up on unregulated online gamingRead More »
When our legislators in Concord act irresponsibly, you and I pay for it. And soon we’ll be paying more in taxes and fees while exposing the State to extraordinarily risky financial situations over the next decade. The budget proposed by House Democrats and Governor Maggie Hassan increases spending by a whopping 16% all while raiding funds New Hampshire has set aside for rainy days, …
Pratte: Fiscal Irresponsibility Returns to ConcordRead More »
If the New Hampshire House of Representatives has its way, children from low-income families will be forced to rescind scholarships that enable them to attend private elementary and high schools. When passed last year, the Education Tax Credit was a major victory for low-income parents because it presented them with the opportunity to send their children to more academically rigorous schools. Now, both the …