Maggie Goodlander’s Reproductive Freedom Agenda

In this election, women’s rights and fundamental freedoms are on the ballot. As a daughter of the Live Free or Die state, I know it is not possible for women in America to live freely without full control of our bodies and full access to reproductive and maternal health care.

When my mom Betty ran for this seat in 1988, she was attacked in her campaign for being a mother. She was on the frontlines of many advances for women in education, in the workforce and in public life. My generation walked through many of the doors opened by women of her era and I certainly believed we were marching forward, towards progress.

Everything changed two years ago when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. They stripped away the reproductive freedoms that my Mom’s generation fought for and that many in my generation and many of today’s young adults have relied upon.

I was a law clerk for Justice Stephen Breyer on the United States Supreme Court when Roe v. Wade was first called into question, and I was working at the Department of Justice in 2022 when the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dobbs.  I remember exactly where I was – like so many Granite Staters – as the news broke that the Supreme Court eliminated the fundamental right to abortion. Without delay, state governments across the country were ready to enforce or enact draconian bans on abortion and other critical reproductive freedoms. At this critical moment, I was proud to help the Justice Department launch the Reproductive Rights Task Force. This first-of-its-kind initiative was launched to protect reproductive freedom under federal law by monitoring and evaluating state and local laws that threaten to infringe on federal protections for reproductive care, including laws that impose criminal and civil penalties on those seeking an abortion or laws that ban or limit access to mifepristone despite the expert judgment of the Food and Drug Administration. I worked with lawyers on the front lines across our country to understand the legal needs and gaps in assistance for patients and providers and worked urgently to fill those gaps.

Through this work I had a front row seat to the legal attacks on our fundamental rights coming from states across the country – from Texas to Mississippi to here in New Hampshire. I saw firsthand the impact of Donald Trump’s appointment of hostile judges across our federal courts.

But these fights aren’t just professional to me – they’re personal too, just as they are for so many Granite Staters. My husband Jake and I want to be parents.  Last year, when I was almost 20 weeks pregnant, we found out that we had lost our son. I needed immediate in-patient ob/gyn care and yet getting a timely appointment was not possible as doctors were inundated with patients traveling north from states with abortion bans and other draconian post- Roe restrictions. My access to care was scheduled one day too late, and I was forced to manage a stillbirth by myself in a hotel bathtub.

As we carry this deep loss, I am grateful for my life and my health. Ultimately, I had access to the healthcare I needed, but in a post-Roe America, too many women are being denied the health care they need.

That is wrong.  And in Congress, I will fight like hell to restore reproductive freedom and build a more equitable system of care for all Granite Staters. This plan outlines a starting point of what I would champion and advocate for in Congress to make sure everyone has access to the comprehensive care they need.

Reproductive Freedom Agenda

If, When, and How to Build a Family. The decision of if, when, and how to start or grow a family is deeply personal, and the government should have no role in that decision. States around the country have banned abortion and severely restricted access to other forms of reproductive health care, including IVF and birth control. Here in New Hampshire, there is no explicit right to abortion in state law or our state constitution, and extremists have proposed many draconian measures to further restrict access to abortions. The decision of whether and when to start a family often includes a host of healthcare procedures, all of which must be protected nationally. I will champion a federal right to an abortion through the Women’s Health Protection Act, and preserve access to medication abortion through telehealth. I support repealing the Hyde Amendment to ensure that abortion care is covered through public health insurance programs – the right to an abortion should not depend on whether you have the financial resources to access it. I will fight to:

  • Establish a Federal Right to Abortion Access and Build Upon the Protections of Roe
  • Repeal the Hyde Amendment 
  • Establish a Federal Right to IVF
  • Establish a Federal Right to Contraception (See Access to Contraception Act)

Protecting the Rights of Patients and Providers. Extreme politicians and judges are not just limiting access to healthcare, they are targeting the patients themselves with laws that criminalize out-of-state travel and monitor access to medical care. At the Justice Department, I worked to fill the legal needs and gaps in assistance for patients and providers, and will continue that fight  in Congress. I’ll also work to eliminate dishonest and predatory practices at so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” that spread misinformation rather than providing genuine health care services. We cannot continue to allow illegitimate clinics to operate as dishonest health care providers. I will fight for:

  • Establish Clear Federal Protections for Healthcare Travel
  • Protect Patients Traveling Across State Lines for Reproductive Health Care, Including Abortion Care
  • Repeal the Comstock Act & Establish Federal Protections for Telehealth and Abortion Medication by Mail
  • Prohibit Dishonest and Predatory Practices at “Crisis Pregnancy Centers”
  • Defend Access to Emergency Care

Protecting Access to Full Range of Reproductive and Maternal Health Care. While we are seeing devastating impacts from lack of access to reproductive health care in post-Roe America, even before Dobbs, access to reproductive and maternal health care was not equitable or universal in America.  Here in New Hampshire, Planned Parenthood, Equality Health Center, Joan G. Lovering, and Reproductive Services of Manchester provide a comprehensive range of critical health care services – often to patients from vulnerable communities.  I will fight to increase funding for health programs that are providing critical health care services across the Granite State.  Our system of maternity and pregnancy care is fragile in many parts of New Hampshire, including the North Country and the Lakes Region, where many New Hampshire hospitals have shut down their maternity services.  I will also fight to support and improve maternal health care services and racial disparities, experienced particularly by Black mothers. I will fight to:

  • Increase Title X and Family Planning Block Funding
  • Invest in Federal Health Programs that Improve Obstetric Care and Prevent Maternity Deserts.
  • Support Maternal Health Care by Expanding Medicaid Coverage and Lowering Costs