CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A bill to bar New Hampshire from recognizing same-sex unions outside the state has been unexpectedly withdrawn.

State Rep. Maureen Baxley – who opposed the bill – told the House Judiciary Committee at the start of a hearing Thursday that the sponsors had asked her to request that the House kill the bill. The Legislature had fought over the same issue last year and rejected it in favor of adopting a civil unions law that just took effect.

The civil unions law recognizes civil unions and same-sex marriages contracted outside New Hampshire as civil unions under the state’s law. The bill would have prohibited that. The bill faced long odds of passing this year.

The Catholic Diocese of Manchester submitted testimony supporting the ban.

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