Heinrich: Congress Must Pass the Women’s Health Protection Act
Senator Heinrich cosponsors Women’s Health Protection Act to protect abortion access and create federal protections against medically unnecessary restrictions that undermine Americans’ access to health care and intrude upon personal decision-making.
WASHINGTON - On International Women’s Day, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is calling for Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2023. The legislation, introduced today by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) with 47 members of the Senate Democratic caucus, would guarantee access to abortion, everywhere across the country and restore the right to comprehensive reproductive health care for millions of Americans. The bill’s introduction follows the Supreme Court’s misguided decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that repealed Roe v. Wade. This decision has stripped access to abortion care for millions of Americans and denied individuals the freedom to make their own health care decisions. Since the Dobbs decision, 14 states have already implemented near-total abortion bans, leaving one in three American women without access to safe, legal abortion care. Additionally, state legislatures across the country have introduced hundreds of bills to include medically unnecessary restrictions that limit access to abortion care.
“A woman has a right to make her own health care decisions without the government getting between her and her medical providers. That right should not depend on what state she lives in. And the overwhelming majority of Americans agree,” said Heinrich. “Yet House Republicans are prioritizing a national abortion ban to block women from making choices about their own bodies and criminalize doctors and nurses. I won’t stop fighting back until the constitutional rights of every American are protected. We must pass the Women’s Health Protection Act.”
The Women’s Health Protection Act creates federal rights for patients and providers to protect abortion access and creates federal protections against medically unnecessary restrictions that undermine Americans’ access to health care and intrude upon personal decision-making.
The Women’s Health Protection Act would:
- Prohibit states from imposing restrictions that jeopardize access to abortion earlier in pregnancy, including many of the state-level restrictions in place prior to Dobbs, such as arbitrary waiting periods, medically unnecessary mandatory ultrasounds, or requirements to provide medically inaccurate information.
- Ensure that later in pregnancy, states cannot limit access to abortion if it would jeopardize the life or health of the mother.
- Protect the ability to travel out of state for an abortion, which has become increasingly common in recent years.
Resources:
