VIDEO: Bouchard Honored By NARAL

State Rep. , D-Concord, was honored by on Jan. 25, with the group’s 2012 Champion for Choice Award.

Ruth Pratt, a NARAL board member, and Monica Ciolfi, the chairwoman of the group’s foundation board, called Bouchard a stalwart supporter of a woman’s right to choose and the organization.

Pratt said she first met Bouchard while working with a craft raffle committee and noted that she had worked tirelessly on the group’s mission. She organized in Concord, training volunteers, and also worked on the statewide voter ID project, to assist in electing pro-choice candidates, she said. Bouchard, Pratt said, also served on many boards within the organization.

Bouchard, who is also a Concord city councilor from Ward 9, is serving her seventh term in the New Hampshire House and also serves as the chairwoman of the Legislative Reproductive Rights Coalition. Pratt said she has worked to pass buffer zone ordinances and had also has served many other organizations including Girls, Inc. and Dress for Success. Pratt noted, “This is only a partial list,” to laughs in the hall.

“Candy, thank you, from all of us,” Pratt stated, to cheers and a standing ovation in the downstairs room of the .

“Thank you,” said Bouchard, “I’m overwhelmed by the turnout.”

Bouchard said she came to the organization quite by accident, attending her first rally at the with her infant son. She called it “a wake up call for me,” with protesters questioning her motherhood and being aggressive while holding their Rosary beads. Bouchard, who also heads up Catholics for Choice, said a shooting in Massachusetts of a doctor who also practiced in New Hampshire really hit home for her and the organization.

Bouchard said, however, the last two years had been difficult noting that “everything is rolling back.” She said it was “very important this year” because some in the Legislature were targeting birth control and other family planning options.

“Now, it’s up to you,” she said. “Things that you’ve taken for granted are going to go away … anything you think that is commonplace … is right now in the Statehouse and people are looking (at it).”