In the poll's “pro-choice” category, 29 percent said there should be no restrictions on abortion, while 42 percent favored “some restrictions,” although the type of restrictions was not specified.

In the pro-life category of the poll, 21 percent said “abortion should only be allowed under very narrow circumstances,” and 5 percent said abortion should be banned without exception. Again, no examples of “narrow restrictions” were given.

The remaining 3 percent of respondents said they were not sure.

When asked about the website's misrepresentation of the St. Anselm poll, the Republican Party responded in an email.

It said the poll results showed that an “overwhelming majority” (63 percent) of New Hampshire respondents supported “some restrictions” on abortion, with examples cited including 42 percent of respondents who supported “some restrictions” and 21 percent who favored “tight restrictions.”

The party's email failed to note that respondents were not asked about the specific restrictions in New Hampshire law.

“Democrats who push for late-term abortion are out of step with ordinary citizens of the Granite State,” it said. “And average voters will not fall for their fear-mongering and propaganda and will reject their extreme position of rolling back our common-sense restrictions.”

The only poll on abortion law in New Hampshire was conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center in July 2021, one month after its passage. At the time, it included an exception for the life of the mother, but not for fatal fetal abnormalities.

The results showed that far more respondents opposed the new law (56 percent) than were in favor of it (33 percent). “This policy is unpopular,” the UNH survey results say.

“New Hampshire’s abortion laws are among the most lenient in the country.”

This requires context.

Nine other states and the District of Columbia have the most lenient abortion laws in the country because they do not set gestation limits, according to the Guttmacher Institute. But there are 25 states with more restrictive time limits: 14 ban abortion and 11 impose restrictions that go beyond New Hampshire's 24-week limit.

This puts New Hampshire among the 16 mid-range states where restrictions begin between the 24th and 26th weeks of pregnancy.

In other respects, New Hampshire's laws are more lenient than those of some other states.

The state does not require an ultrasound scan for abortions before 24 weeks, does not require mandatory pre-abortion counseling, and does not require a waiting period between meeting with a doctor and the procedure.

However, New Hampshire's law is also less lenient than other laws in terms of penalties: violations can result in up to seven years in prison and a fine of between $10,000 and $100,000.

Members of the House of Representatives a law abolishing these penalties was passed last year, but Senate Republicans voted unanimously against it.

The Republicans' new campaign website makes no mention of the criminal and civil penalties. Instead, it cites state law but omits the section on penalties. The party leadership also did not mention these penalties when announcing its new campaign until asked about them by a reporter.

Carson, who voted against the House bill to repeal the penalties, was unable to name them when asked at last week's press conference, but said penalties in other states are “much, much harsher.”

“(Penalties are) not atypical,” Carson said. “If you look at other states across the country, they have criminal penalties as well and some of those penalties are much, much, much harsher. I ask you, what is the use of passing a law when you can just give someone a loophole to get out of it.”

New Hampshire's laws are very similar to those in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and many other states, including California.

It is difficult to compare the abortion laws of these states.

All six have introduced similar pregnancy limits for abortion. But only Maine's Law carries the same criminal and civil penalties as in New Hampshire, according to a review of state data by the Center for Reproductive Rights.

There are other differences too.

Every state has laws protecting the right to abortion, something that New Hampshire Republicans rejected. In all six states, abortion costs are also covered by Medicaid. In New Hampshire, Medicaid is limited to abortions that endanger the life of the mother or are the result of rape or incest.

The exceptions also vary from state to state.

New Hampshire, along with all six states, has also moved to allow abortions after the gestational age when the life or health of the mother is in danger.

New Hampshire also Exception for fatal fetal abnormalities added in 2022, which three of these states do not have.

However, New Hampshire is the only state that has not enacted “protective laws” that protect doctors who perform abortions on residents of other states whose home states ban abortion.

Inflation, crime and immigration – not abortion – are the most important issues for voters.

Current polls support this argument.

In a Survey was published earlier this monthThe UNH Survey Center asked voters to name the most important issue facing the state. “Abortion/Women's Rights” came in at number 16, with about 1 percent of respondents putting it at the top of their list.

The housing shortage was by far the biggest concern among respondents, with 36 percent citing it as their most important issue. This was followed by education, immigration, jobs, the economy and the cost of living.

The Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College asked a similar question in its January poll.

When asked which issues would most influence their voting behavior, respondents ranked abortion fifth, behind the economy/inflation, immigration, government spending and national security.

Republicans support the law in its current form and oppose changes.

When Republican Rep. Dave Testerman introduced a bill last year banning abortions after 15 days, his party joined the Democrats. rejected by an overwhelming majorityParty leaders and Republicans running for Congress and governor have said they will not support further restrictions if elected.

However, the New Hampshire Republican Party platform supports significant restrictions.

She supports the “fundamental right of the unborn child to life” and “personal identity” laws that could make termination of a pregnancy tantamount to murder. She also expresses her support for a law to protect life at conception that Republicans in Congress have introduced in recent years.

A reporter asked Ager, the state party chairman, to reconcile this with Republicans' stated opposition to further abortion restrictions in New Hampshire. Ager noted that the platform “was introduced by our delegates, and that's part of the Republicans in the state.”

He explained it in detail.

“That is our belief, but it is a completely different thing to say what we are going to legislate for the people of the state,” Ager said. “You can believe in something and desire it, but when you write laws, you create laws that people have to follow. So you can have aspirations, that is the basis, but (with) laws, you create laws that people have to follow.”