Senate committee hears debate over amended bill requiring gestational-development video and narrow list of sex‑education topics

The New Hampshire Senate Education Committee heard extended testimony and questions on House Bill 667 on Oct. 27, a bill amended in the House to add a new, narrower paragraph to the state's health-education statute requiring age-appropriate, medically accurate instruction on gestational development and recommending a "high quality computer generated animation or ultrasound video."

Supporters told the committee the amendment mostly codifies material already found in statutes and Department of Education health standards and administrative rules; opponents said the amendment narrows coverage of reproductive health and omits contraception, sexually transmitted infection prevention, and abortion from the required list of topics.

Representative Glenn Cordelli, who said he was covering for the bill's prime sponsor, said the amendment (House amendment 615, which replaced the original bill) was intended to "bring that over from rules so that…