Just over three months ago, I gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Fortunately, my labor and delivery were relatively uneventful and my husband and I were able to get out of the hospital quickly and bring our baby home to meet her big brother.
While Zoom calls made comfortable maternity leggings a daily possibility, being pregnant during a pandemic presented challenges. My prenatal exams were changed to telehealth and my husband couldn’t join me for the in-person visits, including the all-important 20-week sonogram, which is when some fetal diagnoses can be detected. This exam is so critical because if the pregnancy isn’t continuing as expected (either for the pregnant person or the fetus) sometimes complex decisions, that you hadn’t planned for, must be made. My experience was positive. My 20-week sonogram showed my pregnancy was progressing well, but I know that not all Granite Staters are as fortunate.
In addition to personal challenges that can come with pregnancy – like high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, and severe morning sickness (to name a few) – there are also barriers to care everywhere when it comes to your health. This includes insurance access, geographical locations, ability to take time off work for appointments – the list goes on. But one very important thing pregnant people in New Hampshire share is freedom to make decisions about their pregnancy in consultation with their medical providers, without interference from politicians.
Unfortunately, a small group of extreme legislators are once again singularly focused on making it harder for Granite Staters to get the reproductive health care they need, including safe, legal abortion care. The restrictions to care being considered in Concord will jeopardize the health and safety of New Hampshire women and disproportionately impact those who already face barriers to health care, and who have been hit the hardest by COVID-19: people of color, immigrants, women, the LGBTQ community, people struggling financially, and people with disabilities.
Here is the thing: There is no one-size-fits-all process when it comes to deciding if, when, or how you choose to start a family. And there is no one-size-fits-all pregnancy either. Any doctor can tell you – every pregnancy is different. And anyone who has experienced multiple pregnancies can confirm that experiences can vastly differ each time.
I know this as much as anyone. Between the birth of my two healthy children, I experienced a miscarriage. I know the pain that comes with losing a very wanted pregnancy; but I can only imagine the additional heartache and stress of being told in a similar moment that your medical provider couldn’t give you the care you need and want, or your insurance wouldn’t cover it, or that you would have to travel out of state to get it.
Pregnancies aren’t predictable. That’s why families and medical providers need to be able to make the best decisions in each circumstance, not be bound by a single policy or law.
For decades, New Hampshire has enjoyed broad bipartisan support for reproductive health. Regardless of political party, Granite Staters expect our elected leaders to protect our ability to get the health care we need and our freedom to make our own health care decisions about our pregnancies. During a global pandemic, New Hampshire legislators should be focused on responding to the public health crisis at hand, not creating a new crisis in access to quality health care by denying insurance coverage of health care procedures and infringing on private decisions.
We call on State House leaders to reject these extreme bills and continue working to improve the health and well-being of all Granite Staters, particularly during this global pandemic. Because everyone should be able to get the sexual and reproductive health care they need, including safe legal abortion, regardless of income or ZIP code.
Now, more than ever, New Hampshire should be focused on breaking down barriers to care, not building more.
(Kayla Montgomery is senior director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund.)