Reps. Chu, Frankel, Pressley, and Escobar Reintroduce Women’s Health Protection Act Three Years After Dobbs Decision
Three years after Roe was overturned, House Democrats reintroduce bill to protect abortion rights across the U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-28), alongside Reps. Lois Frankel (FL-22), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Veronica Escobar (TX-16), reintroduced H.R. 12, the Women's Health Protection Act of 2023 (WHPA), a critical bill to restore the right to abortion nationwide and stop extremist abortion bans in states across the country.
Three years ago today, the Dobbs ruling overturned nearly 50 years of precedent under Roe v. Wade, stripping millions of Americans of their constitutional right to abortion. Since then, draconian abortion bans have taken hold in 19 states across the country, endangering lives and giving politicians unprecedented power over personal medical decisions.
WHPA would enshrine the protections of Roe into federal law by creating a federal right to access abortion carefree from medically unnecessary state-based restrictions. Once again, WHPA has been filed as H.R. 12, reflecting its status as one of House Democrats’ top legislative priorities. WHPA has already passed the House twice when Democrats held the majority and remains the most widely supported abortion rights bill in Congressional history.
“We cannot have true equality in America without reproductive freedom. Three years after the Supreme Court ripped away the right to bodily autonomy, millions of women are living in a country of forced birth bleeding in ER parking lots, crossing state lines for care, or being kept on life support against their families’ wishes,” said Rep. Chu. “That’s why I’m proud to reintroduce the Women’s Health Protection Act, because no one should have more rights in California than in Texas. We will not stop fighting until we achieve full reproductive justice.”
“With half the country, including Florida, now living under cruel and extreme Republican abortion bans, the need to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act has never been more urgent,” said Rep. Frankel. “This bill would establish a federal right to access and provide abortion care, free from medically-unnecessary restrictions and political interference. Decisions about if, when, and how to start or grow a family belong to women—not to politicians. We must never stop fighting until every woman has the freedom to make those personal decisions for herself.”
“Abortion bans across this country are denying families essential healthcare. In the three years since the Supreme Court tore away access to abortion care, we have heard horrific testimony from patients, providers and their loved ones who have been denied care, denied their dignity and even robbed of their lives.” said Rep. Pressley, Co-Chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus. “I’m proud to join Rep. Chu and our colleagues in reintroducing the Women’s Health Protection Act, critical legislation to affirm abortion care as healthcare and enshrine that right into law.”
“The Women’s Health Protection Act ensures women across this country have the freedom to make their own decisions about their bodies and futures. On behalf of countless women across the country who live the painful consequences of the Dobbs decision, including infertility or having to face the loss of their own lives resulting from lack of access to care, I again join my Democratic colleagues in declaring that abortion is healthcare and calling for the Women’s Health Protection Act to be brought to the House floor with the urgency this moment requires,” said Rep. Escobar. “Republicans think they know better than women and their doctors. They’re wrong.”