U.S. Senate to Vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act February 28

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that on February 28 the U.S. Senate will hold its first-ever vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), a bill that would safeguard abortion access from bans and restrictions that make abortion difficult or impossible to access for far too many. By filing cloture today, Senator Schumer is taking the first procedural step toward a historic vote in the Senate. 

“We are thrilled that the Senate is addressing the urgent need to protect abortion access across the nation,” said Nancy Northup, President & CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights in a statement. “The Supreme Court has failed to stop the Texas abortion ban and is entertaining Mississippi’s quest to overturn Roe v. Wade. It has abandoned its duty to ensure that states do not nullify individual constitutional rights. People are counting on the Senate to do what the Supreme Court will not.” 

The U.S. House of Representatives passed WHPA in September 2021, marking its first ever vote on standalone, proactive abortion legislation.  

The Women’s Health Protection Act safeguards abortion access by creating a statutory right for health care providers to provide, and a corresponding right for their patients to receive, abortion care—free from restrictions and bans.  

If enacted, WHPA would protect the right to access abortion care across the country, even if Roe v. Wade were weakened or overturned. 

In Texas, Six Months Without Most Abortion Access 

The WHPA vote comes on the eve of March 1, which will mark six months since Texas’s S.B. 8—the country’s most restrictive in effect abortion ban—was implemented, ending most access in the state. The Texas law prohibits abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy and incentivizes private individuals to sue anyone who provides abortion care or helps someone get care in the state.  

The law has rendered the right to abortion effectively meaningless in Texas, with patients being turned away in droves and prevented from accessing time-sensitive abortion care. The ban is forcing most patients to travel out of state or carry pregnancies against their will, a gross violation of their human rights. 

The situation in Texas is an indication of what could happen in states across the country if the U.S. Supreme Court weakens or overturns the right to abortion in a Center case currently before the Court.  The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—which challenges Mississippi’s pre-viability abortion ban—presents a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade and could shape the future of abortion access in the U.S. 

The Women’s Health Protection Act is Supported by a Broad Coalition 

The Center is part of a broad coalition of more than 100 organizations spearheading the effort to build support for the Women’s Health Protection Act. The coalition—made up of organizations committed to sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice—has been building support for WHPA for nearly a decade. 

Tell your Senators to vote yes on WHPA today! >> 

The Women’s Health Protection Act has significant support in the current Senate, with 47 co-sponsors. WHPA was introduced in both the House and Senate on June 8, 2021, by lead sponsors Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Veronica Escobar (D-TX). 

In September 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration issued a Statement of Administration Policy supporting passage of WHPA in the House, stating, “In the wake of Texas’ unprecedented attack, it has never been more important to codify this constitutional right and to strengthen health care access for all women, regardless of where they live.” 

WHPA Would Protect Abortion Access Across the U.S. 

The Texas abortion ban is just one of hundreds of laws passed in the last decade designed to eliminate abortion access in the U.S., particularly in the South and Midwest. These laws make it extremely difficult, and often impossible, for people to access abortion care where they live—and disproportionately impact people who already face discriminatory obstacles to health care. 

Since 2011, anti-abortion lawmakers have passed more than 500 laws restricting and banning abortion. In January 2022 alone, lawmakers have introduced over 50 unconstitutional abortion bans in state legislatures, including at least 10 S.B. 8 copycat bans on abortion. 

Voters Support the Women’s Health Protection Act 

Nationally representative polling, conducted by Hart Research in 2021, found that 61% of voters support passage of a national law that would protect the constitutional right to access abortion by creating a nationwide safeguard against bans and medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion. The Women’s Health Protection Act would accomplish that. 

The polling also found that nearly seven in 10 voters believe that the constitutional right to abortion should be protected. And when informed that 24 states are likely to ban abortion completely if Roe v. Wade is overturned, 58% of voters nationwide said that this is a big concern. 

Read more: 

• About the Women’s Health Protection Act 
• U.S. Senate Will Vote to Protect Abortion in Federal Law (statement), 02.17.22
• In Historic Vote, U.S House Passes Women’s Health Protection Act, 09.24.21 
• Biden-Harris Statement of Administration Policy, 09.20.21 
• U.S. Senate Holds Hearing on the Women’s Health Protection Act, 06.17.21 
• Women’s Health Protection Act Introduced in U.S. Congress to Protect Abortion Access, 06.08.21 
• Polling: Sold Majority of Voters Support the Women’s Health Protection Act