New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee 107 North Main Street
Concord, NH 03301
February 10, 2022
RE: Support HB 1673
Dear Chairman Gordon, V Chairman McLean, and members of the Committee:
The New Hampshire Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is our state’s leading group of physician experts in obstetric and gynecologic care. Our members dedicate their careers and lives to providing evidence-based care, delivered with quality, safety, integrity, and compassion. As such, ACOG New Hampshire strongly supports HB 1673, which would repeal a dangerous law that prevents physicians and their patients from determining the best course of treatment.
As with all health policy, policy related to abortion care, including abortion later in pregnancy, must be based on science and clinical facts. It must ensure that patients, in consultation with their physicians, can evaluate all appropriate treatments and make informed choices about what’s best for their health and their pregnancies. To that end, we urge this committee to repeal current law that undermines quality care and interferes in the patient-physician relationship by passing HB 1673.
The need for an abortion later in pregnancy could arise for a number of reasons, including pregnancy complications that can compromise a patient’s health. These conditions may also reduce the possibility of fetal survival. Patients in these circumstances may risk extensive blood loss, stroke, and septic shock. Physicians cannot always predict what course medical conditions or complications will take or how quickly they may progress to severe injury or even death. Trained health care professionals must never be put in the untenable position of waiting for a medical condition to worsen and become life- threatening before being able to provide evidence-based care to their patients. Current law woefully ignores situations such as high-risk pregnancies where a medical condition poses health risks and it is imperative that a treatment approach be determined between the patient and their health care provider, not the legislature.
Sound health policy must be based on scientific facts and evidence-based medicine. The best health care is provided free from political interference in the patient-physician relationship. Patients should be able to trust that their doctor can give them options for their health care that is based on their medical expertise, not the confines of a law. We urge you to affirm these tenets of medically appropriate, compassionate care and pass HB 1673.
Respectfully,
Officers of the New Hampshire Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists