Concord Ledger

The New Hampshire Executive Council recently voted -- for the third time -- to reject 24-month funding contracts for family planning services like Planned Parenthood.

The decision was a 4-1 vote earlier this month, with Democratic Councilor Cinde Warmington casting the lone vote in favor of the funding. This will stop any funding for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, Joan G. Lovering Health Center and Equality Health Center, according to a report by WMUR9.

The report said that an audit of providers was recently done, and it showed that no taxpayer dollars are being used to fund abortion. Executive Councilor Dave Wheeler, a Republican, said he felt that accepting the funds would be illegal under House Bill 2, which was his reason for a "no" vote. Other Republican councilors voting "no" were Joe Kenney, Janet Stevens and Theodore Gatsas.

“Councilor Wheeler started this by demanding these reports, and turns out all the information has been given and it has been proven that there is no misuse of funds, and yet they still vote no,’’ Cinde Warmington told WMUR9.

According to a report by by Planned Parenthood on the day of the vote, the 24-month contracts total $2,055,498 in Family Planning Program funding for programs that include a sliding-scale fee for people who need birth control, sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment, and cancer screenings. It was voted down on Dec. 22, 2021, as well. In September, the Executive Council also voted 4-1 to defund health centers through Dec. 31, 2021.

There was $1,020,329 in contracts rejected for Equality Health Center in Concord, Joan G. Lovering Health Center in Greenland and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in Claremont, Manchester, Keene, Derry and Exeter.

Kayla Montgomery, vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, said that hundreds have spoken out against the councilors' decisions since they voted last September to defund reproductive health providers. She said the Republican councilors have had two chances to fix their mistake but refuse to do so due to “personal politics.”

“This is yet another vote to dismantle the state family planning program, and it is irresponsible and will cause irreparable harm to our network of care. New Hampshire deserves better,” Montgomery said, according to Planned Parenthood.