No matter their age, every person in New Hampshire has the legal right to get an abortion.
There are three abortion clinics in New Hampshire that perform surgical (in clinic) abortions. Planned Parenthood (Manchester) and Equality Health Center (Concord) perform surgical abortions up to 15 weeks and 6 days. Joan G. Lovering Health Center (Greenland) performs surgical abortions up to 14 weeks and 6 days.
Four clinics in New Hampshire perform Medication/Pill abortions which can be done at home. Planned Parenthood (Manchester) and Planned Parenthood (Keene) offer medication abortions up to 11 weeks after the start of your last menstrual period. Equality Health Center (Concord) offers medication abortion up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. Joan G. Lovering Health Center (Greenland) offers medication abortion up to 9 weeks from the first day of your last menstrual period.
If you are beyond these week limits, the clinics can help refer you to another clinic that can perform the procedure.
In New Hampshire, for a young person under age 18, their parent or guardian must be told that the young person is getting an abortion before the procedure. This is called parental notification or parental notice. This only means that the doctor must try to tell the parent/guardian about the abortion. It does not mean you need their permission to get an abortion.
The clinic where a young person gets abortion care will be required to send a written notice before the scheduled abortion to the parent or guardian unless a medical emergency requires the abortion or if the parent or guardian certifies that they have already been notified. Because the clinic may have to take specific steps to meet the notice requirement, it is important that the young person talks to clinic staff about how to give notice to the parent.
If you cannot or do not want to tell your parent or guardian, you can go to court and ask a judge to allow you to get an abortion without telling your parent or guardian. This is called judicial waiver.
If you are married or an {{emancipated minor}{An emancipated minor went through a legal process and has court order stating that they are freed from their parents and are legally an adult}}, you can get an abortion without telling your parent or getting a judicial waiver.
Not everyone can tell their parent about their decision to have an abortion. If you cannot or choose not to talk to your parent, there is another option called a judicial waiver. A judicial waiver means asking a judge to allow you to get an abortion without telling your parent.
You could also consider looking into having an abortion in a nearby state like Vermont, which does not require parental involvement and does not have a waiting period before you can have an abortion. You can go to the Vermont wiki page here.
Judicial waiver is a legal process that a lawyer can help you with. You do not need a lawyer, but you can have a lawyer for free if you want one. All you need to do is ask the superior {{court clerk}{A clerk is someone who works for the court, they are the ones that usually accept forms and schedule meetings with the judge}} for one.
Your lawyer’s job is to represent you in court. That means they are there to help you ask for what you want. Even if the lawyer was given to you by the court, it is your lawyer’s job to help you ask the court for what you want.
The next section explains how to ask the court for a lawyer.
- New Hampshire is one of the states that has a dedicated group of advocates working to help young people who need a judicial waiver.
You can visit the website Equality Health Center (EHC) here. EHC runs a free hotline (603-225-2739) to help young people through the judicial waiver process. When you call the hotline, EHC will connect you with an attorney to represent you in your judicial waiver case for free. You can also contact the ACLU of New Hampshire at 603-227-6678.
You can also contact Planned Parenthood of Northern New England call center at 1–800-230-7526. The advocates there can help make you make an appointment and begin the judicial waiver process.
Your lawyer will take care of the steps in the judicial waiver process, including filing the {{petition}{A petition is a form you fill in with information that tells the court what you are asking for}}, scheduling a {{hearing}{a hearing is a meeting with a judge}}, and representing you at the hearing.
- You also have the option to start the judicial waiver process on your own. The process is free. The petition form you will need to fill out is available here. Instructions for filling out the form are available here.
This form is where you can tell the court that you want a lawyer for free. To ask the court to appoint an attorney for you, check the box that says “I want the court to appoint a lawyer for me” when filling out the petition for a judicial waiver.
If you have questions about filling out the form, you can contact EHC or another abortion clinic to ask for help.
If you do not know which clinic you want to go to, you can find a list of clinics here. You can also visit the Planned Parenthood website to find a clinic near you by clicking here.
- Once you have filled out a petition, you turn it in to any superior court. To find the superior court in your area, you can look here. You can also turn in your petition form by email ([email protected]). If you choose to email your petition, you must call the court (603-225-4451) to tell them: 1.) you’ve emailed them a petition; 2.) which court you are trying to go to; and 3.) a phone number where they can reach you or your lawyer.
After the court receives your petition, the judge will schedule a hearing. The hearing will happen within 48 hours (2 days) after you turn in the petition—not including weekends or holidays.
It is important to talk to your lawyer before the hearing because they will have a lot of useful information and advice for you about talking to the judge.
At the {{hearing}{a hearing is a meeting with the judge}}, the judge will ask you questions. Since every judge is different, we cannot know exactly what a judge will ask you.
Judges can ask your age, whether you have had a job, if you have lived away from your parents, if you have traveled by yourself, if you have your own money and know what a budget is, and whether you have made other big decisions in your life. The judge might also ask what has happened since you found out you were pregnant, what you think will happen if you don’t have an abortion, and what you did to decide you wanted or needed an abortion. The judge might ask you why you want or need an abortion.
You can find a list of questions that a judge might ask here. A judge might also ask questions that are not listed here, but it is a good idea to start thinking about what your answers are to these questions so you are ready if the judge asks. Your lawyer can help you with this.
After the hearing, the judge makes a decision about whether you can have an abortion without telling your parent. Everything about your case will be kept confidential by the court. If you do not go to court to talk to the judge at the time you are scheduled to be there, the judge could automatically decide that you cannot get an abortion without getting consent from your parent.
If you think you cannot make it to the hearing, but still want the judicial waiver, you can ask for a different time to talk to the judge. If you have a lawyer, ask your lawyer about changing the time. If you don’t have a lawyer, call the court and tell them you have a time to talk to the judge but need a {{different time}{The person at the court who you speak with might call this a continuance}}.
After the {{hearing}{a hearing is a meeting with a judge}}, the judge decides whether they think you are {{mature and capable of giving informed consent}{The judge thinks you understand enough to be able to make the decision yourself}} for the abortion, or if it’s in your {{best interest}{The judge thinks it would be better for you not to talk to your parents}} not to involve your parent in your decision.
The judge usually makes a decision right after the hearing. But if they do not, the judge has 2 days from the time you turned in your petition to give you a decision—not including weekends or holidays.
If the judge makes a decision and agrees that you can get an abortion without telling your parents, you will get an {{court order}{An official paper that you give to the clinic to show them that you have a judicial waiver}}
Having an order from the court means you can get an abortion in a clinic in New Hampshire without involving your parent or guardian. You will need to take the court order with you to the clinic to show that you have permission from the court to get an abortion without telling your parent or guardian.
To protect your privacy, you can ask court/attorney to send a copy of the court order directly to the clinic for you.
No. The judicial waiver is confidential, which means that no one outside of the court will be told about it. When you send in your application to get a judicial waiver, your parent or guardian will not be told about the {{hearing}{a hearing is a meeting with a judge}}.
No, if you are granted a judicial waiver that means you can get an abortion if you want. It does not mean you are required to and you can always change your mind. The court {{order}{official paper to give to the clinic to show them that you have a judicial waiver}} just means you can make the decision about whether you want or need an abortion without involving your parent/guardian.
If the judge says you cannot get an abortion without your parent’s permission, you can {{appeal}{An appeal is what happens when you do not agree with the judge’s decision and want to try and challenge that decision in court}} the decision.
So even if the judge tells you no, you can ask another court with different judges to make a different decision.
If you had a lawyer for the {{hearing}{a hearing is a meeting with the judge}}, they can talk to you about the appeal and help you understand what you need to do next. If you did not have a lawyer for the hearing, you will need to ask the court to give you a lawyer for the appeal.
The form that you need to fill out to appeal is available here. Instructions for how to fill out the appeal form are available here. You must fill out a form to appeal within 30 days after the first court decided you could not get a judicial waiver. However, it is best to fill out the form as soon as possible. After you fill out the form, the next court will have 48 hours (2 days) to make a decision—not including weekends or holidays.
If the appeals court also tells you no, or if you do not want to file an appeal, you could consider looking into having an abortion in a nearby state like Vermont, which does not require parental involvement and does not have a waiting period before you can have an abortion. You can go to the Vermont wiki page here.
You do not have to pay any money to get a judicial bypass. You can get help paying for your abortion. Your clinic can help you cover the cost of your abortion through an abortion fund.
These funds may be able to help:
National Abortion Federation (national hotline and abortion fund)
1-800-772-9100
Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire (NH hotline and abortion fund)
https://www.reprofundnh.com/about-us.html
Vermont Access to Reproductive Freedom (available for out-of-state patients seeking abortion care in Vermont)
https://www.vermontaccess.org/
802.371.0102
Abortion Rights Fund of Western Massachusetts (MA abortion fund willing to assist NH residents seeking abortion care)
https://www.arfwm.org/get-help
413.582.3532
Laura Fund (Planned Parenthood of Northern New England fund serving Maine/VT/NH)
1-866-476-1321
You can find a map of abortion clinics in New Hampshire here. You can also find a list of Planned Parenthood locations in New Hampshire here.
Equality Health Center
38 S. Main St.
Concord, NH 03301
Lovering Health Center
559 Portsmouth Ave.
Greenland, NH 03840
Planned Parenthood – Keene Health Center
8 Middle St.
Keene, NH 03431
Planned Parenthood – Manchester Health Center
24 Pennacook St.
Manchester, NH 03104
Some clinics may have limited service or hours
You can also use these directories to find an abortion clinic near you:
Planned Parenthood: Directory Here (make sure you select abortion in the services drop down menu)
National Abortion Federation: Directory Here
Abortion Care Network: Directory Here
I Need An Abortion: Directory Here