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 study of human trafficking in New Hampshire. We also urged that legislators explicitly reject at the outset re-defining prostitution as a type of regulated industry or so-called “sex work.”
The amendment recommended by the committee is well-intentioned but fails to address our concerns with the underlying bill. HB 287 should be abandoned altogether.
