#HB1660 abortion after 20 weeks PASSES 190 to 109 tho not performed in #nh #nhhouse #waronwomen

HB 1660-FN, relative to abortions after 20 weeks.  MAJORITY:  OUGHT TO PASS.  MINORITY:  INEXPEDIENT TO LEGISLATE.

Rep. Kathleen F Souza for Judiciary:  This bill addresses a growing concern regarding the susceptibility of the unborn child to feel pain.  Evidence is mounting that, indeed, by twenty weeks gestation, the unborn child is fully capable of experiencing pain.  Medical and scientific literature is replete with reports attesting to this.  Testimony from the fields of obstetrics, neurology, and perinatoglogy has been presented in scientific journals and before the United States Congress.  One noted neurologist states that “unborn children at 20 weeks gestation probably feel pain more intensely than adults.”  Although some may doubt these scientific findings, the majority of the committee feels that the right thing to do is to act with compassion for these unborn children and thus voted this bill Ought to Pass.  Vote 12-4.

Rep. Lucy M. Weber for the Minority of  Judiciary:  The minority believes this bill, titled the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” to be flawed for many reasons.  First, the minority is unpersuaded that there has actually been a scientific determination that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks after fertilization, or what the medical community, which counts from the date of the last menstrual period, refers to as the 22nd week of pregnancy.  We were given testimony that neurons, or pain fibers, do not even reach the brain’s cortex until the 26th week of pregnancy, and it has not been proven that pain as we know it is experienced then, either.  Second, this bill would constitute state intrusion into the established right of a woman to make her own decisions governing her own body, in consultation with her chosen medical care providers. Third, this bill would intrude the state into the practice of medicine, and would require physicians to depart from accepted standards of medical practice.  Fourth, the bill increases bureaucracy by requiring an extensive and problematical reporting system.  A more acceptable reporting system is currently being explored by another committee.  Finally, portions of the bill, as for example, the section on abortions necessary to preserve the life of the fetus, are a contradiction in terms and make no sense.