Committee adopts amendment and advances HP 1376 clarifying parental actions and abuse definitions

The Children and Family Law committee voted 2–1 in executive session to report HP 1376 as 'ought to pass as amended' after adopting a committee amendment (2026-1411H) intended to clarify the bill’s scope.

The bill’s sponsor explained that attorneys for GLAD raised drafting concerns in earlier hearings. The sponsor said counsel from both sides worked on language to ensure the statute would not be read to exclude parents who raise children according to their biological sex from consideration, while still allowing the state to make child-matching decisions based on a child’s best interest.

"The intent of the bill is that a parent raising their child according to their biological sex is not abuse," the sponsor said, adding the amendment also clarifies that a parent would not be disqualified from foster or adoptive licensing solely because of beliefs about gender ideology, though the state would continue to match children according to best-interest factors.

Members pressed the sponsor on neglect: several senators said neglect and abuse are defined separately and noted that the amendment changes abuse language but does not rewrite the neglect statute (referred to in the hearing as RSA 169-C). The sponsor and others told the committee the existing neglect provisions remain intact, meaning conduct that meets statutory neglect standards could still be actionable.

After adoption of the committee amendment by voice vote, the committee voted that HP 1376 is 'ought to pass as amended'; the outcome was recorded as 2–1. One senator indicated an intention to pull the bill from consent at a later step.

The committee record shows consultation with GLAD counsel in drafting the amendment, but at least one speaker said GLAD still may not fully support the underlying bill. The committee did not amend the neglect language during this session.