EMILYs List Statement on Governor Sununu’s Latest Lies About Reproductive Care
For Immediate Release
June 21, 2021
EMILYs List Statement on Governor Sununu’s Latest Lies About Reproductive Care
Last week, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu lied about reproductive care in his attempt to defend his extreme and dangerous abortion ban. Sununu dismissed exceptions for rape, incest, and fatal fetal anomalies as “edge” issues and tried to justify his plan to force women to undergo mandatory ultrasounds. He also falsely claimed that Massachusetts and New York have the same abortion restrictions. Sununu’s comments come after over 200 health care providers signed a letter objecting to the ban. Emily Cain, executive director of EMILYs List, released the following statement in response:
“Gov. Sununu is an anti-choice governor. He knows that this abortion ban is dangerous and indefensible, so he has to rely on lies and mischaracterizations of reproductive care. New Hampshire’s medical community agrees: no one, especially not politicians in Concord, should interfere in decisions between patients and their doctors. But with an abortion ban that introduces criminal charges for providers, implements mandatory ultrasounds for patients, and refuses exceptions for survivors of rape and incest, Chris Sununu is denying patients the right to make their own choices and control their own bodies. If Gov. Sununu proceeds with this ban despite protests from providers and patients, Granite Staters will send him packing.”
KEY HIGHLIGHTS:
Sununu Calls Mandatory Ultrasounds, Exceptions for Rape and Incest “Edge” Issues: “Some of the stuff around the ‘edge,’ the ultrasounds, what is an exception or not an exception those might be different … but it doesn’t go against my core tenet of not allowing abortions in those late months.” [COVID Weekly Briefing, WMUR, 7/17/21, 3:02]
Sununu Says Forcing Women to Have Ultrasounds Has Nothing to Do With Choice: “Being pro-choice or not pro-choice isn’t about whether you’re for mandatory ultrasounds or not mandatory ultrasounds. Those are two very completely different things.” [COVID Weekly Briefing, WMUR, 7/17/21, 1:26]
Sununu Repeats False Claim That Massachusetts and New York Have Same Provisions as His Abortion Ban: “Go talk to the folks in Massachusetts, go talk to the folks in New York, or any of the number of very liberal states that already have these core provisions in place. This is political, you guys are falling into political fodder.” [COVID Weekly Briefing, WMUR, 7/17/21, 1:56]
Valley News: Doctors, medical students urge Sununu to veto NH budget over abortion ban
NH Bulletin: More than 200 Medical experts challenge lawmakers’ thinking on abortion ban
InDepth NH: Protesters gather at State House opposed to abortion language in budget bill
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 157 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.
