In the race for New Hampshire governor, the candidates' positions on reproductive rights could be a deciding factor.

Pollsters have said it is a dead heat between Democrat and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and Republican former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, and both claim to champion women's health.

Kayla Montgomery, vice president of public affairs for the Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund, said Ayotte voted for a national abortion ban while in the Senate and supported the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

"We can't put our trust in someone who has been against abortion rights and against reproductive freedom her entire career," Montgomery contended.

Ayotte said if elected, she would not change the state's current law, which allows for abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, or back new restrictions.

Craig said she would work to codify abortion rights into the state constitution. New Hampshire is the only New England state without an explicit legal right to abortion care.

Ayotte said her opponents are "politicizing abortion to win votes" but her previous board position with the right-leaning nonprofit Winning For Women is raising questions about her pivot to a more moderate approach. The group has spent millions backing anti-choice candidates for office and Ayotte herself backed bills to remove insurance coverage for birth control.

Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, said Ayotte has grown out of step with New Hampshire voters.

"She instead decided to get on board with an extreme right-wing agenda on limiting reproductive health care for the people of her own state," Altschiller asserted. "We remember."

Altschiller added reproductive freedoms are under attack at the State Capitol, despite a majority of voters backing abortion rights, and thinks Craig would serve as a firewall in the governor's office to ensure protections. She noted Craig has also committed to nominating pro-choice justices to the state Supreme Court, where there is a retirement coming up in 2026.


get more stories like this via email

Voters across the country approved a majority of measures in November to affirm abortion rights and supporters of an initiative to legalize abortion in Idaho said they are feeling momentum.

Voters approved seven of 10 state abortion-rights measures, including in Montana. A Florida measure received a majority of votes but did not reach the state's 60% threshold for passage.

In Idaho, pro-choice advocates are waiting for approval to collect signatures on a 2026 measure which would allow access to abortion until viability of the fetus.

Melanie Folwell, executive director of Idahoans United for Women and Families, is leading the effort.

"If there's anything that was very clear in November's election, it's that abortion amendments and abortion laws -- laws that expand access to reproductive options -- do well at the ballot, even in very 'red' states," Folwell asserted.

Idaho is one of six states with a near-total abortion ban. Folwell noted her organization is awaiting approval from the attorney general's office and could start collecting signatures by the end of January.

However, unlike many other states allowing voter initiatives to amend the state constitution, Idaho does not. If approved for the ballot, the abortion access measure would mean passing legislation, which in turn means legislators could repeal it. Folwell argued it is unfortunate, when people have been telling lawmakers since Roe v. Wade was overturned about the negative effects of banning abortion.

"They've heard from doctors, they've heard from health care systems, they've heard from patients themselves -- from women who have suffered needlessly as a result of these laws -- and they've done nothing," Folwell observed. "They've had two legislative sessions to do something. They've done nothing. And we think there's an imperative to just take this question to the people."

If the measure is approved to collect signatures, it would need 6% of signatures from registered voters from at least 18 of the state's 35 legislative districts, a total of about 70,000 signatures before April 30, 2026.


get more stories like this via email

Health clinics in New England and elsewhere are coping with a sharp uptick in requests for long-acting contraceptives in the wake of the election.

Planned Parenthood centers in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont report more than double their weekly average appointment inquiries for intrauterine devices - or IUD's - and the birth control implant.

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England CEO Nicole Clegg said the organization had exceeded its monthly average for vasectomy consultations by mid-November.

"There's a lot of anxiety," said Clegg, "that people have around whether or not they're going to have access to their preferred birth control choice."

Clegg said patients are also calling with concerns about the availability of gender-affirming care.

She said the increase mirrors what the organization experienced after President-elect Donald Trump's first win in 2016, and the eventual overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

In New Hampshire, abortion remains accessible up to twenty-four weeks of pregnancy, but health care advocates note that state law does not expressly protect abortion rights and that anything could change under the new Republican trifecta at the statehouse.

Clegg said New Englanders are already showing a heightened interest in volunteering at health centers to ensure patients can get the care they need.

"We've had these intense fights before," said Clegg, "and time and time again the American public has stood up for Planned Parenthood and our rights. We think they'll do the same again this time."

Clegg said a loss of federal funds would reduce peoples' access to vital, preventative health care services.

The co-leaders of Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency have already vowed to cut $300 million earmarked for groups like Planned Parenthood, which they claim pursue a progressive agenda.





get more stories like this via email

A majority of South Dakotans have voted to maintain a strict abortion ban but other factors are shifting the landscape for reproductive care in the state.

Of the 10 states voting on abortion during the 2024 election, South Dakota was one of three to keep a ban in place.

Kim Floren, director of the Justice through Empowerment Network, which provides financial assistance to people seeking abortions, said the state's view on the issue is not new but concern is growing over how the federal government may affect reproductive rights.

"I'm feeling the panic from people who are in areas that maybe haven't experienced what we've experienced as far as barriers go," Floren noted. "The reality is that we as a community can figure out how to take care of one another."

The Justice through Empowerment Network provides assistance with travel and transportation, child care, lodging, interpreters, birth control and medical procedure funding. Floren pointed out the organization supports 30 to 40 people per month. The final tally for Amendment G, which would have established a right to abortion in the state's constitution, was 41% for and 59% against.

South Dakotans voted in 2006 and 2008 against near-total abortion bans but Floren stressed since then, President-elect Donald Trump's first term made people feel "emboldened to be more vocal." Still, she acknowledged his second term will begin in a different context than his first.

"Before Dobbs, we did not have all of these reliable, safe websites where you can order abortion pills from and have them sent to your house for extremely cheap," Floren observed. "In some ways, access here has gotten better."

Floren added Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota will return to his post after running for vice president on the Democratic ticket. Walz in 2023 signed a bill protecting patients who travel to Minnesota for abortion care and their providers from legal penalties in other states.


get more stories like this via email