CONCORD – House Speaker William O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon) and House Majority Leader Pete Silva (R-Nashua) today released the following statement on the override of the Governor’s veto of House Bill 1679, legislation to ban partial birth abortions under state law. The procedure has been banned under a federal law passed in 2003, a law that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007’s Gonzales v. Carhart decision. The House overrode the bill 240 to 118, within the necessary 2/3rds of members present and voting.
House Speaker William O’Brien
“The American Medical Association has said there is never a medical necessity for partial birth abortion. It’s a heinous procedure and it is unfathomable that Governor Lynch would veto this responsible bill. We are pleased we were able to overturn the Governor’s veto today. There is a good reason why former liberal U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat, described the procedure as ‘infanticide,’ as the method repels most decent people. This is a bill that affirms life.”
House Majority Leader Pete Silva
“The Governor has lost touch with the people and he has picked the right time to move on. Fortunately his veto was overridden and New Hampshire will now join the growing list of states that likewise prohibit this procedure. Partial-birth abortion is something that is so out of bounds that the U.S. Supreme Court vocally upheld the federal ban on this procedure.”