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New Hampshire GOP Introduce Abortion Trafficking Law
A New Hampshire Republican Rep. Glenn Cordelli (Carroll) has introduced legislation in that state to ban "recruitment, harboring, or transporting" of a pregnant minor to obtain an abortion without parental permission.
"I view it as more of a parental rights issue, not an abortion issue," Cordelli said in an interview. “A parent has the right to know what’s going on. I’ve even heard it being termed 'kidnapping.'"
The bill is identical to one passed in Idaho that was just ruled enforceable by a federal court. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the "recruitment" language of the Idaho bill, saying it violates free speech. However the ban on "harboring" and "transporting" minors was ruled enforceable by the court. The laws leave no out for a minor if a parent or guardian has caused the pregnancy through sexual assault. In those scenarios, the rapist must consent to the abortion.
Another similar law was passed in Tennessee but is currently blocked. Additional abortion trafficking laws have been proposed in Alabama, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
These laws hinder free movement of citizens, and the vagueness of how they will be enforced leaves the door open to authoritarian scenarios. Without stopping every car transporting female minors at the borders of abortion-friendly states and forcing them to take a pregnancy test, the trafficking laws rely on second-hand informants reporting that abortion assistance took place.
The vagueness around the language of the laws also means people could theoretically be prosecuted for providing ANY assistance to a minor, including taking them to the post office where they received an abortion pill in the mail, or emailing or texting them resources from a women's health clinic.
It is clear that Republicans are copying each other in pushing laws to relegate women to second class citizenship all over the country.
