Members of House and Senate Make Bold Move to Protect Abortion Access
Led by lead sponsors Rep Judy Chu (D-CA) and Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the Women’s Health Protection Act is re-introduced, to protect equal abortion access, for everyone
This morning on Capitol Hill, the Center for Reproductive Rights joined champions in the House and the Senate and reproductive health, rights, and justice advocates to celebrate the introduction of the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2019—federal legislation to protect abortion access from state-level bans and restrictions that are threatening to eliminate access in large swaths of the country.
The Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) is being led by Representative Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and it is a definitive protection against the kinds of bans and restrictions that have been coming out of states like Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi–and it will guarantee equal access to abortion for everyone, everywhere.
Statement from Nancy Northup, President and CEO at the Center for Reproductive Rights:
“With an alarming number of states enacting abortion bans and President Trump’s pledge to overturn Roe, we’re taking nothing for granted,” said Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “The Women’s Health Protection Act will ensure that a woman’s ability to access abortion care does not depend on her zip code, and we will work tirelessly to guarantee that in law.”
The Women’s Health Protection Act: Equal Abortion Access, Everywhere
Watch the recorded event here: www.facebook.com/SenBlumenthal/
And you can support the Women’s Health Protection Act, too: contact your Representative and Senators and urge them to cosponsor the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2019, with this simple form.
Check back for photos and updates!
FAQs
Q: What is the Women’s Health Protection Act?
A: The Women’s Health Protection Act, also known as WHPA, is federal legislation that would establish a national standard protecting the right to access abortion throughout the United States.
Q: Why do we need a new federal law? Isn’t the right to abortion protected under the Constitution, through the court’s decision in Roe v. Wade?
A: The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized the constitutional right to abortion, beginning with the court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. In practice, the ability to access abortion services is incredibly uneven from state to state. More than 400 state laws restricting abortion have been enacted since 2011, and clinics providing care have been forced to close. As a result of these state laws, six states are currently down to a single abortion clinic for the entire state.
Q: How would it work? What would it assure?
A: The Women’s Health Protection Act establishes a statutory right for health care providers to provide, and their patients to receive, abortion services free from medically unnecessary restrictions, limitations, and bans that delay, and at times, completely obstruct, access to abortion. The Department of Justice, as well as individuals harmed by restrictions made unlawful under the Act, could go to court to enforce these rights.
For even more FAQ, go to ActForWomen.org/WHPA-FAQ