The Blue View: Sununu’s ambition comes at women’s expense
By Erica de Vries
Originally published July 28, 2021 in Seacoast Online.
Gov. Chris Sununu claimed to be pro-choice in his campaign for governor. Then Gov. Sununu made a calculated decision to abandon his position and sacrifice women’s dignities and rights. He signed into law the most restrictive abortion law in modern N.H. history.
Gov. Sununu signed it for two reasons. First, he knew that the far right in the Republican House, who Sununu helped to get elected, was in charge. Second, Gov. Sununu would personally benefit from a auspicious byproduct of his abortion ban: an increased appeal to national conservative donors.
If you haven’t heard much about the law, you are not alone. That is by design. Gov. Sununu loves a camera, yet he signed this bill with no ceremony and without any media present. That is because within New Hampshire he is trying to retain the moderate mantle. But make no mistake. Gov. Sununu’s law is anti-woman. And it is cruelty writ large.
What does this law do? It bans abortions after 24 weeks. It makes no exception for fatal fetal anomaly. It will send to jail doctors who provide abortion care after 24 weeks.
More than 200 doctors, including practicing physician and Hampton’s state Senator Tom Sherman, signed a letter to Gov. Sununu, pointing out that the bill imposes some of the harshest restrictions in the country on reproductive healthcare rights. “When they say (the bill) protects the life of the mother, it doesn’t,” Sherman said at a press conference. “These are the weakest protections, almost in the country, for the health of the mother.”
Healthcare providers have attested that abortions after 24 weeks gestation are extremely rare. There is only one healthcare provider in the whole state capable of performing these procedures: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. The hospital said that these abortions are only performed when a fetal abnormality would prevent it from living outside the uterus.
Third trimester abortions did not happen in New Hampshire, absent catastrophic fetal abnormalities, according to Dartmouth-Hitchcock. So, in signing this law Gov. Sununu chose to compound familial tragedies – including in utero fetal deaths and nonviable fetuses – so he could avoid the embarrassment of his own party’s legislators overriding a veto and to attract national anti-choice campaign donors.
Gov. Sununu’s law also creates new barriers for every single woman seeking abortion care at any stage of pregnancy. It requires an ultrasound before every abortion, even including the first trimester. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecology states that no such procedure is necessary for patients with minimal risk factors.
What is the point of this mandatory ultrasound provision if doctors say it is not required? There are four reasons.
First, mandatory ultrasounds make abortions more expensive and less accessible to poor people. The average cost of an ultrasound for a person without healthcare is $404, according to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. Others estimate ultrasound cost to be as high as $1,500.
Second, mandatory ultrasounds make constitutionally guaranteed abortion care more difficult to access by forcing an in- person doctor’s visit. Previously, a first trimester medical abortion could be provided by telehealth.
Third, mandatory ultrasounds treat rape and incest survivors like chattel. Sununu’s law ignores the awful trauma they have already experienced and magnifies it by subjecting them to forced transvaginal ultrasounds. Please stop and just for a moment imagine you were raped. That rape resulted in an unwanted pregnancy that you discovered at just four or five weeks. You are constitutionally entitled to obtain a medical abortion. But, before you can get it, this Republican law now mandates you are violated again through a transvaginal ultrasound.
Fourth, mandatory ultrasounds are a tool for shaming women. Republicans make no secret about wanting to shame women seeking abortions. “The ultrasound images can be useful to that mother to connect to the baby that’s inside of her so that she’s better able to make a decision as to whether she wants to go forward with the procedure,” GOP Rep. Jess Edwards said at a hearing.
Gov. Sununu won in 2020 by appealing to Independents and even Democrats by claiming he was pro-choice. It was deceit. Gov. Sununu proved that he is not worthy of the trust so many pro-choice people placed in him. He took the benefit-of-the-doubt, pro-choice votes cast for him and ingratiated himself to the anti-woman, pro-forced pregnancy donors he thinks can bankroll him if he runs for US Senate.
If what Gov. Sununu did angers you, and if you want to stand up for the rights of all people in New Hampshire to make their own healthcare decisions, please tell Gov. Sununu that he can call himself pro-choice all he wants, but you know the truth. Let him know that you will not forget these attacks when he falsely claims to be moderate in 2022. You can call him at 603-271-2121. Please invite your friends and family to do the same.
Erica de Vries is a Hampton resident, attorney, and small business owner.
