Several bills moved through the State House last week that addressed abortion access and legal protection, as lawmakers again considered a repeal of patient buffer zones outside of abortion facilities, and whether to protect New Hampshire abortion providers from out-of-state legal action. New Hampshire is the only state in New England that lacks such shield laws.
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony last week about SB 551, which would protect medical providers from being sued by other states for providing abortions and contraceptive care to patients from out of state.
Sen Debra Altschiller, a Democrat from Stratham who sponsored the legislation, said it would allow health care providers here to practice according to professional standards set by New Hampshire.
“When a court ruling halted IVF care in Alabama in 2024, a patient may have chosen to travel to New Hampshire — maybe they have family here in New Hampshire — to receive care and begin their family under a New Hampshire shield law,” Altschiller said. “That patient and their Granite State provider will be protected.”
Altschiller also said the bill would ensure obstetricians and gynecologists in New Hampshire felt safe to provide care for patients that may be coming from out of state, as the state faces a shortage of practitioners.
“We don't have enough OB-GYNs here in New Hampshire and we have a very limited number of people training to be OB-GYNs,” Altschiller said. “We are surrounded by states that protect their providers. How on earth do we expect to recruit young talent to this state if we won't tell them we'll have their back?”
On Friday, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to advance a bill repealing the state’s “patient safety zone” law, which allows reproductive healthcare providers to create a 25-foot buffer zone around their facilities. The state has had a patient safety zone law since 2014.
Kayla Montgomery, the vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund, said in a press release that the move makes it harder for patients to get access to the care they need.
“Patient safety zone laws like New Hampshire’s respect the free speech rights of anti-abortion individuals to distribute literature or engage in conversations with willing parties outside that space while ensuring patients and their providers can enter reproductive health care facilities safely, without fear of threats, intimidation, or violence,” she said.
Lawmakers in the committee also considered a Republican bill that would have required doctors at medical centers that receive state funding to refer patients to an abortion provider only if they also provide a referral to a pregnancy resource center, which does not provide abortions or abortion referrals. The committee voted unanimously against recommending the bill.
