Rep. Chu Calls for Restoring Reproductive Freedoms on Second Anniversary of Supreme Court’s Dobbs Decision

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today marks two years since the Supreme Court issued the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, which overturned the 50-year precedent in Roe v. Wade of a nationwide, constitutional right to abortion care.

Nationwide, 21 states now have bans or near bans on abortion. More than one out of three women in America have lost access to abortion in their home states, and doctors face criminal penalties for providing abortion care. Last year, more than 171,000 patients had to go out-of-state for an abortion procedure. Women who are undergoing a miscarriage cannot obtain an abortion. Health complications and maternal mortality rates can increase in places where abortions are banned, particularly for Black women.

Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28), the author of H.R. 12, the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), issued the following statement:

“Abortion is health care: always has been, always will be. To reach real equality for all, America should be a nation of reproductive freedom where everyone has access to abortion care. For years, anti-freedom activists chipped away at the right to abortion care in states across the country. Two years ago, the MAGA justices on the Supreme Court—appointed by Donald Trump and confirmed by Republicans in the Senate—ripped away reproductive freedoms from tens of millions of Americans with their Dobbs decision. For the first time in America’s history, young women have fewer rights than their grandmothers. While doing Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans’ bidding, the Court undermined its legitimacy further than ever before in our lifetimes and created a public health crisis across entire regions of our country.

“Democrats in Congress and I have given Republicans ample opportunities to work with us to pass my Women’s Health Protection Act to restore the protections of Roe and protect patients and providers from state-level bans and restrictions that impede access. They have refused. If Republicans and the MAGA movement had their way, Congress would pass a national abortion ban, and this would be a country of forced birth.

“Along with my colleagues in the Pro-Choice Caucus and Democratic Women’s Caucus, I’m not done fighting. When Democrats once again control Congress, we will send a bill to President Biden to sign to restore and strengthen Americans’ reproductive freedoms.”

Since the Dobbs decision, Rep. Chu has undertaken the following actions to restore and strengthen reproductive rights:  

• June 30, 2022: While attending a peaceful rally on Supreme Court grounds to protest the Dobbs decision, Rep. Chu and 180 other activists are arrested.
• July 13, 2022: Rep. Chu leads 126 colleagues in writing to House and Senate leadership to include robust emergency funding for the Title X Family Planning Program, the only federal program dedicated to providing family planning services for people with low incomes, in must-pass legislation.
• July 15, 2022: Rep. Chu’s WHPA passes the House of Representatives for the second time, along with legislation protecting the right to travel for abortion care. A press conference follows.
• July 21, 2022: the Right to Contraception Act, which Rep. Chu cosponsored, passes the House.
• August 26, 2022: Rep. Chu meets with providers and advocates to discuss the impact of the Dobbs decision.
• October 28, 2022: Rep. Chu holds a roundtable in Pasadena, CA, on the future of reproductive rights.
• January 9, 2023: Rep. Chu’s offers WHPA as the substitute to House Republican leadership’s rules package, making it House Democrats first action of the 118^th Congress.
• March 24, 2023: Rep. Chu leads 148 colleagues in writing to House Appropriations leadership to increase funding for Title X to $512 million for FY 2024.
• March 30, 2023: Rep. Chu leads 207 colleagues to introduce WHPA as H.R. 12 in the 118^th Congress.
• April 28, 2023: With no Republican-led House Committee hearings held on the state of the impacts of the Dobbs decision, Rep. Chu joins Democratic Women’s Caucus and Pro Choice Caucus leadership to lead a shadow hearing on the state of a post-Roe America.
• June 15, 2023: Rep. Chu and Rep. Dan Goldman (NY-10) lead 52 colleagues in pressing Walmart, Costco, Safeway, Kroger, and HealthMart on their plans to certify dispersing the abortion medication mifepristone.
• June 21, 2023: Rep. Chu and Pro-Choice Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Diana DeGette (CO-01) and Barbara Lee (CA-12) lead 211 of their colleagues to sign a discharge petition on WHPA, thereby bypassing Speaker Kevin McCarthy and forcing a vote on the measure.
• June 24, 2023: Rep. Chu hosts a discussion with abortion providers in Pasadena about the dangers and opportunities ahead to strengthen reproductive rights.
• September 11, 2023: Rep. Chu hosts a discussion at Scripps College on the threats to abortion access and reproductive rights nationwide.
• December 7, 2023: Rep. Chu and DWC Chair Rep. Frankel lead 121 House Democrats in urging the Biden Administration to issue guidance to ensure that the newly approved over-the-counter (OTC) contraception pill is both affordable and accessible to all.
• January 10, 2024: Rep. Chu participates in Ways and Means markup of legislation to support so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” and offers amendment that would prevent federal funding of these centers until a certification that they were proven to not have any negative impact on the health or future of pregnant women seeking care. Republicans rejected this and all Democratic amendments.
• January 22, 2024: On Roe’s 51st Anniversary, Rep. Chu unveils a “Know Your Reproductive Rights” webpage and, along with Reps. Caraveo, Escobar, & Jacobs introduces ACCESS Act to Expand Capacity for Abortion Services Where Legal. This bill would provide grant funding to increase capacity for hospitals and other abortion providers in states where abortion care remains legal, and therefore have seen an influx of patients traveling in from out of state, increasing overall demand.
• February 22, 2024: Rep. Chu and DWC Chair Frankel lead a letter to health insurance plans urging them to adopt the newly issued guidance from HHS that every plan should cover every contraceptive product without a therapeutic equivalent (generic).