NARAL Demands Hansen Resign over 'Vaginas' Email

NARAL-NH is demanding state Rep. Peter T. Hansen (R-Amherst) resign after his reference to women as "vagina's" [sic] in an email to his New Hampshire House colleagues earlier this month.

Hansen came under fire for the email from women and even his own party, with House Republican Leader Gene Chandler calling his comment "repugnant."

Sara Persechino, policy and community relations director for NARAL Pro-Choice New Hampshire, condemned the word choice on Tuesday. On Arnie Arnesen's Concord radio show on Wednesday, she went a step further, demanding Hansen's resignation.

"We are calling on him to resign immediately," she said on the show, broadcast on WNHN 94.7. "Everyone should be offended by his rhetoric."

To that end, NARAL-NH also launched an online petition today, she said.

THIS JUST IN: Representative Hansen just released the following statement April 17:

"I want to apologize to my constituents, my colleagues and women, especially those in my life, for the blatantly offensive, insensitive and, frankly, stupid language I used in my email with House members regarding the Stand Your Ground legislation. I am embarrassed, to say the least. There is no place or need in the public discourse for the words I used. The people and the process deserve better than that.

Stand Your Ground is an especially personal issue for me for reasons you all know. The debate over the rights of everyone to protect their home and family is too important to be overshadowed by the clumsy and disrespectful way in which I tried to make my point.  

Rep. Watrous was absolutely right to call me out for my choice of words and in the forum in which I was using them – namely the House email list serve. The world certainly does not need another loud-mouthed politician shooting his mouth off, adding to the already toxic political environment and steering attention away from the important issues that we should be discussing. Unfortunately, that is what I have done and I am truly sorry. 

Those that know me know how hard I work on behalf of my town and my state and how seriously I take my role. It is entirely fair to judge me for this remark, but it is my hope that my intentions and my record of service will be weighed in the balance."

In the email in question, sent on April 1 to each citizen legislator of the 400-member New Hampshire House of Representatives, Hansen was offering a counter argument to a floor speech by Rep. Steve Vaillancourt (R-Manchester), who maintained that state law prior to"stand your ground" taking effect in the last legislative session was perfectly adequate. Hansen wrote, according to the email being forwarded around by fellow lawmakers:

"There were two critical ingredients missing in the illustrious stories purporting to demonstrate the practical side of retreat. Not that retreat may not be possible mind you. What could possibly be missing from those factual tales of successful retreat in VT, Germany, and the bowels of Amsterdam? Why children and vagina's {sic} of course. While the tales relate the actions of a solitary male the outcome cannot relate to similar situations where children and women and mothers are the potential victims. The presence of one or both ingredients demands that a potential totally different outcome might have prevailed and that is the factor which I believe was dismissed in the HB 135 debate and vote."

In an interview with Patch on Tuesday night, Hansen said he tried to use the language as a provocative means to challenge state representatives on House Bill 135, the "stand your ground" repeal bill. House members in favor of the repeal spoke of a person's ability to retreat, but Hansen said he was trying to show a scenario in which a woman was with children and might not be able to retreat.

"If people are offended, I apologize. It was not my intent," Hansen said in the interview.

He added, by email to Amherst Patch: "I need to be clear on this one issue. I continue to be apologetic for my thoughtless use of the word however in no way, however it is interpreted, was it my intent to refer to women in the context of the word used. I regret the use of the word but in no way was it my intent to substitute one word for another."