Mere Moments After Becoming an Official Candidate for Governor, Ayotte Misleads Voters About Her Anti-Abortion Record

CONCORD, N.H. — Mere minutes after officially filing to run for governor, former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte is already trying to obscure her anti-abortion record.

The Boston Globe reported: 

While filing her paperwork Thursday as a Republican candidate for governor, former US senator Kelly Ayotte said the state has already found the sweet spot on abortion policy.

Under current law, abortions are allowed until 24 weeks of gestation. After that, pregnancies can be terminated only when there are medical emergencies or “fetal abnormalities incompatible with life.”

Ayotte said the state’s law represents a consensus view, and she won’t go fiddling with it if she wins her bid for the corner office.

“As governor, I will protect that law,” she said. “I will not change it.”

Ayotte's claim that New Hampshire has found the "sweet spot" on abortion policy is a blatant attempt to rewrite her record:

• As a U.S. Senator, Ayotte voted for legislation that aimed to ban abortion earlier in pregnancy than New Hampshire’s current law.
• Ayotte played a pivotal role in supporting Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, aiding in securing his confirmation to the court. Gorsuch’s lifetime appointment soon led to the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
• Notably, one of Ayotte’s first endorsers in her campaign for Governor, State Senator Carrie Gendreau, is one of the sponsors of the now-rejected 15-day abortion ban that was proposed in the state legislature this past session. Ayotte remained completely silent on the proposed legislation. 

“Voters across the political spectrum in New Hampshire overwhelmingly support abortion rights, which means some politicians will say whatever voters want to hear just to get elected. But they’re misrepresenting their records and their positions. Make no mistake: on abortion, New Hampshire extreme politicians continue to say one thing, and then when in office, they do the exact opposite,” said Kayla Montgomery, Vice President of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood NH Action Fund. “Ayotte is attempting to rewrite her anti-choice record because she knows how important abortion rights are to Granite Staters, but voters know her record.” 

Recent polling data underscores the broad support for abortion rights in New Hampshire:

• A survey from Breakthrough Campaigns conducted on behalf of Amplify NH shows that a supermajority of Granite Staters - 87% - support reproductive freedom and 64% of Granite Staters expect state elected officials to protect or expand abortion access in New Hampshire. Just 11% of Granite Staters want more abortion restrictions in the state.
• In a 50-state survey, PRRI found most Americans oppose abortion ban policies; 69% of Granite Staters believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
• August 2022 polling by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center shows that support for abortion rights in New Hampshire is at a historic high and nearly 6 in 10 voters disapproved of the overturning of Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022.
• Polling released in July 2021 from the UNH Survey Center shows that New Hampshire’s abortion ban is deeply unpopular, with only one-third of Granite Staters in support of it. Nearly half of independent Granite Staters oppose this ban, as do 27 percent of Republicans.

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Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund (PPNHAF) is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in New Hampshire. The Action Fund engages in educational and electoral activity, including voter education, grassroots organizing, and legislative advocacy.