CONCORD – Forty-seven years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion, the fierce battle between “pro-choice” and “pro-life” camps continues.

On Wednesday, the 47th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, opponents of a proposed amendment to the New Hampshire Constitution that would specifically preserve a woman’s right to choose outnumbered supporters during a public hearing.

Nearly 200 people turned out to testify on CACR 14 at the hearing before the New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee, with most of those speaking in opposition.

The proposed amendment would “protect citizens from us, the people who hold these seats,” said the bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Tim Smith, D-Manchester, speaking in Representatives Hall to accommodate the large crowd.

“There is nothing more emotional, nothing more sensitive, more private or personal,” Smith said, “and a legislative body is not qualified to resolve this issue.”

Opponents, however, said the rights of a pregnant woman to destroy her fetus should not override the rights of an unborn child. They maintained the amendment would create totally unrestricted and unregulated abortion.

“This is about abortion on demand,” Katie Glenn, government affairs counsel for Americans United for Life, told judiciary committee members. “This has nothing to do with well-trained practitioners.”

Glenn said similar legislation has been used to tear down government requirements for abortion clinics.

“This amendment would eliminate government’s ability to regulate abortion and protect life,” Glenn said.

Another sponsor of the bill, Rep. Chuck Grassie, D-Rochester, said the amendment was proposed due to changes in Washington, D.C., that could result in the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Presumably, this means the 2018 confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh as the ninth justice.

The amendment in the state constitution would guarantee a woman’s right to make her own decisions, he said.

Grassie said his daughter came home from college and told her parents she was going to be a mother. She eventually decided to give birth, which he helped raise, Grassie said.

“You don’t know what someone’s situation is,” Grassie said. “We don’t need politicians and special interest groups imposing their values on others.”

However, Manchester attorney Ovide Lamontagne said New Hampshire abortion laws are some of the most liberal in the country.

“New Hampshire has chosen not to regulate abortion,” he said.

Lamontagne said if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the federal court, New Hampshire’s abortion law would not change.

Lamontagne said the proposed amendment “creates mischief” that ought to concern both pro-life and pro-choice advocates.

Several speakers said the amendment could mean a father of an unborn child’s permission would be needed before an abortion could be performed, or that state tax dollars could be used to pay for abortion.

Ellen Kolb of Cornerstone Action said the amendment raises issues with existing state law, such as parental involvement. What would happen to that law under CACR 14, she asked, or the prohibition on taxpayer-funded abortions, or on a person’s condition of employment.

Several women told of having abortions and are now opposed to the procedure because of the pain it caused, while others urged pregnant women to seek help at 19 agencies in New Hampshire as they opposed the bill.

Phyllis Woods of Dover called the proposed legislation “another amendment seeking to legitimize murder.”

She said an unborn child is a human with rights, and a decision made on its behalf violates its rights.

Robert Dunn, director of the office of public policy for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester, said the bill “would prevent the state from passing or enforcing laws that would restrict (or even simply inconvenience) abortion at any point during pregnancy…”

Dunn said many of the same people were sitting in the same room a year ago for the public hearing on a bill to repeal the death penalty which the church supported. Lawmakers last year repealed the death penalty by overriding Gov. Chris Sununu’s veto.

“The church supports the inherent dignity of every human being at every stage of life,” Dunn said. “It is all interconnected.”

Representatives of organized pro-choice groups such as Planned Parenthood and NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League) did not appear during the hearing to support the proposed amendment.

A proposed constitutional amendment requires a three-fifths majority in the House and the Senate to be placed on the next general election ballot, which would be this November.

A two-thirds majority of voters in the general election would be required to approve the amendment to change the constitution.

Garry Rayno of InDepthNH.org may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.

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