CFHC News Articles

Join us and other New Hampshire voters on Wednesday, March 7 in Concord for a Day of Action to Protect Women’s Health!

Did you know that earlier this week, Rush Limbaugh had the audacity to call a  Georgetown law student who is an  activist for birth control a  “slut” and “prostitute” for speaking out about the issue?  Although many have condemned what was said, the GOP's overall silence on this issue is deafening.

If you are fed up with this kind of insult to women and the extreme efforts to restrict women’s access to contraception and other critical reproductive health services here in New Hampshire and nationally, join us in Concord on March 7th for a ‘Day of Action for Women’s Health”.

Starting at 8:00 a.m. we will march to the State House to line the stairwells to the House floor so that legislators have to walk by our protest on their way to session.  After that, we're asking those who can stay to occupy the House gallery. We’ll finish off the day with a HUGE RALLY at the State House from 11:30-1:30.

Please, join us and other New Hampshire voters on Wednesday, March 7 in Concord for a Day of Action to Protect Women’s Health. We need to send a strong message to state legislators that recent attacks on women’s health will not be tolerated.  Together, we will let them know that New Hampshire voters are paying attention, and we won’t let legislators send women back to the dark ages! Make sure your voice is heard on March 7.

The Health Center's Executive Director, Dalia Valdunas, testified against a new bill recently endorsed by the NH House Judiciary Committee.

The following article is by Annemarie Timmons and Mathew Spolar
Concord Monitor
February 26, 2012

If you think the female reproductive system has overshadowed the jobs-and-economy agenda of the House's Republican leadership, there's more to tell you.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committee endorsed a bill that would require women getting an abortion to first be told about her fetus's brain and heart conditions and that the state of New Hampshire "urges" her to contact an adoption agency before deciding on an abortion.

The Department of Health and Human Services would also have to create a video that showed a fetus's development at two weeks and all the way to birth. The video would include images of the fetus's developing limbs and internal organs.

"Abortionists" who failed to provide the information to women before giving them an abortion would be guilty of a Class A felony, which carries a 7½- to 15-year prison term, according to the bill.
The legislation's prime sponsor is Rep. Jeanine Notter, a Merrimack Republican who made headlines this month for saying women who use birth control increase the risk of prostate cancer in their male offspring.

In this bill, Notter initially asserted a "direct" link between abortion and breast cancer. She has since amended it to say there is evidence of a strong link. She bases that on studies showing that women who have children, especially those who have children earlier in life, have a reduced chance of getting breast cancer.

Others have interpreted that to say the abortion itself does not increase the odds of getting breast cancer. Rather, it's the decision to have children that reduces the odds.

Dalia Vidunas, executive director of the Concord Feminist Health Center, testified against the bill and hopes the Senate will reject it if it passes the full House. Vidunas said Friday that her center has long offered women all the information required in the bill and more. She opposes the intrusion the legislation would have on a woman's personal choice.

"They are trying to make a legal procedure as onerous and as difficult as possible," Vidunas said. "We are all for adoptions when that is the right choice for the woman. It's totally about choice. If that's her choice, we will do everything we can to help you toward that choice. The same is true if she decides to keep the child."

When women call the center to schedule an abortion, a trained health counselor spends at least 30 minutes talking with them about the procedure and alternatives like adoption or keeping the baby. Often, the conversation is longer, she said.

If a woman is unsure which route to take, the counselor suggests she come in for a counseling session. During that visit, a woman is told about the development of her fetus, the details of the abortion procedure and the local options for adoptions, Vidunas said. The center refers women to adoption providers and local obstetricians if they decide against an abortion.

And if they opt to have an abortion, they can't do it that day, Vidunas said. They must come back because the center wants women to be sure about their decision, she said.

When women arrive for an abortion, they get an ultrasound and are asked if they'd like to see the image. They are offered the chance again before the abortion during a health counseling session that precedes an abortion.

If a woman wants to see images of a fetus at different gestational ages, the center provides them, Vidunas said. "It's only after the educational piece that we have a woman sign as to whether she wants to have an abortion."

The bill does not imagine the abortion visit that way.

It is intended to "protect unborn children from a woman's uninformed decision to have an abortion," according to text of the bill. It says "many" abortion providers hire "untrained" and "unprofessional" counselors to provide pre-abortion counseling when their "primary goal is actually to 'sell' or promote abortion services."

Rep. Kathleen Souza, a Manchester Republican who is co-sponsoring the bill, said lawmakers heard from women who had abortions earlier in life because they had not been fully informed about the procedure or the options of adoption.

"Considering that what the woman is doing is going to affect her for the rest of her life, requiring the person doing the abortion to tell the woman information about the unborn child and what (alternatives) are available, is, I think, entirely reasonable," Souza said.

In addition, the legislation would require all abortions to be reported to the state, something that is not done now. That information would include the woman's age, her medical condition and the number of pregnancies and abortions she's had previously.

The Department of Health and Human Services estimates it will cost $107,000 a year to track the information and create and update the information materials and video women are provided.

Rep. Rick Watrous, a Concord Democrat, voted against the bill in committee. In an email, he said the goal of the legislation is to ultimately outlaw abortion.

"This is propaganda, posing as objective information," he wrote. "The minority (on the committee) believes that this bill would needlessly increase state expenditures, micromanage physicians' practices and significantly burden a woman's ability to make her own decisions based on the best available medical advice."

Join us at the Concord Feminist Health Center on January 14, 2012 from 11am - 1pm to celebrate women, men, children and choice.

This year marks the 39th year since Roe vs Wade -- the Supreme Court decision that finally gave women the right to control their own bodies and their own lives.

Let's spread the joy of giving women a choice!

At the same time, the NH Right to Life will be conducting their annual March for Life, and will walk past CFHC. Last year, over 200 marched in an attempt to coerce women to give up their right to choose. With the current political climate, we're estimating more will attend this year.

Bring your voice, enthusiasm, and warm mittens. Signs will be provided for those who want to carry one. Feel free to make/bring your own sign!

Hot chocolate, tea, coffee, hot cider, and munchies will be available.

2011 has been a year filled with adversity that has challenged CFHC, and yet we enter 2012 stronger, steadier, and inspired thanks to you -- our supporters, staff and board members.

Read our 2011 Concord Feminist Health Center Annual Newsletter (will open in a new window).