As we enter 2022, the future of reproductive rights is more uncertain than ever. It’s clear that the time to protect abortion access is now. That’s why I’m urging the New Hampshire Legislature to repeal Governor Sununu’s abortion ban and pass the Access to Abortion-Care Act.
On Jan. 1, Governor Sununu’s abortion ban went into effect, banning abortion at 24 weeks with no exceptions for fatal fetal diagnoses, rape or incest. The law criminalizes doctors, eviscerating the patient and provider relationship. The law also mandates ultrasounds for all abortion care at any stage of pregnancy, which is an outrageous governmental overreach, as an ultrasound is not always medically necessary.
Instead of entering a new year when the clock struck midnight, it felt like we were traveling back in time. New Hampshire should be focused on increasing access to reproductive health care, not stripping Granite Staters of the right to freely make decisions about their own bodies.
As a first-generation American, one of the many reasons my parents wanted to immigrate to the U.S. was that the U.S. is known as “the land of the free.” My parents wanted a better life for me, one that granted me the freedom to make informed decisions about my own health care. However, Governor Sununu’s barrage of attacks on abortion is perverting the American ideals of liberty and freedom.
Fully repealing Governor Sununu’s abortion ban and passing the Access to Abortion-Care Act are essential steps to protecting Granite Staters’ bodily autonomy. The Access to Abortion-Care Act provides critical protections to ensure that Granite State women and families can work with their doctors to get the health care they need in the majority of situations.
Contact your state senator and representatives today and urge them to repeal Governor Sununu’s abortion ban and pass the Access to Abortion-Care Act.
Advaita Chaudhari
Hanover
There is a need for volunteer help at Historic Homes of Runnemede, a small senior community in Windsor. There have been two very capable men who have taken care of its grounds and maintenance work for years, but after one retired at the end of the summer, no replacement has yet been found. Seeing every day the burden this has left on the remaining employee, as a resident I can only informally ask, but I am hoping that in letting the wider community know, someone might come forward to help, even on a volunteer or temporary basis. Given the pandemic rules here, help could only be with the outside tasks such as clearing snow, but even this would relieve the current strain on the remaining staff.
Or, read this as a reminder of the organizations or individuals in your own area who really need assistance now, especially with the pandemic and winter, if not also staff shortages. Some of the needs going unmet range from small and immediate things to larger, more ongoing tasks. All help is meaningful. Cast your eye around and think of something you could offer or would like to offer. Then beyond any help you do give, a circle of care spreads and is reinforced, which makes our communities stronger and happier places to live. It reinforces the ethic of reciprocity and mutual responsibility that keeps us all going, whether now or further down the road. And we are all thankful.
Cecelia Blair
Windsor
Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day is bittersweet. Knowing that King’s life’s work earned him the recognition of a federal holiday will always be reassuring. But knowing also that his dream has become, in his own words, a nightmare makes any kind of celebrating difficult at best.
Here in New Hampshire, politicians work to rewrite racist American history by threatening teachers with lawsuits and loyalty oaths. They redraw voting districts to stymie the democratic process and force women to undergo invasive medical procedures should they try to end an unwanted pregnancy — a dilemma that disproportionately affects women of color.
There is a long tradition in this country and in this state of old white men in ill-fitting suits making oppressive laws. Thankfully, the same is true for the fight for civil rights and voter access. The latter is usually instigated of course by the African American community, whose patriotism is of an order unknown to most white people. Despite more than a century of racist abuse, it is the African American community that holds most steadily to democracy and our republic as the hope for the world.
Look around and see the ones who violently attack or silently try to dismantle democracy. You’ll see people who have had privileges granted to them through a system of racial oppression, people who are deluded about what liberty means and people who hold the individual above the very community that supports them.
You might say our republic was recently saved by the efforts of African Americans who stepped up in greater numbers than any voting group to elect our current president, a man they had reason to distrust but one who was sure to prevent another four years of lies and racist charlatanism.
As we celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King Jr. and the message of peace and justice he dedicated his life to, we should remember and be thankful to those who continue to believe in America and its promise for all people, especially when there are so many ungrateful flag wavers who consider America only for themselves.
James Graham
Lyme
Lebanon has a mask mandate in place. Most retail establishments have done a good job of enforcing that mandate, for which I am grateful.
There is one exception in my experience: Walmart. They do not enforce the mandate, and the store has many people, not just a few, who are not wearing masks.
Why is the city not actively enforcing its mask mandate in this store?
Sharon Gouwens
Thetford Center