Strong Voices for Our Rights

At the reintroduction of the Women’s Health Protection Act on May 23, a powerful lineup of government representatives and leaders in the fight for reproductive rights took to the microphone to share the what, the why, and the why right now of a federal protection for access to abortion: the Women’s Health Protection Act. 

Lead Sponsor Representative Judy Chu (D-CA)

“Since 2011, states like Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Missouri, and so many others have enacted over 400 restrictions on abortion that are going to leave even more young women terrified and alone, unable to make decisions about their own bodies. And that’s why we are introducing the Women’s Health Protection Act once again. Our bill finally puts a stop to the state-based attacks that anti-abortion advocates have been trying to use to undermine or even reverse Roe.”

Lead Sponsor Senator Blumenthal (D-CT)

“This movement, and it is a movement, is powered by people with conviction and conscience and who know that the well-being and physical and mental health of women depends on their right to say when they want to become pregnant and have children.”

Lead Sponsor Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH)

“It’s time for us to make America safe again for women to do what they want with their bodies.”

Original Sponsor Representative Diana DeGette, Co-Chair Pro-Choice Caucus (D-CO)

“We now believe that for the first time in our nation’s history that we have a pro-choice majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, and so we are going to take that new pro-choice majority and we are going to say to the men and women of America, we are going to protect every woman’s rights, including her right to a safe and legal abortion.”

Dr. Leana Wen, President and CEO, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

“Already in the U.S., there are six states that only have one abortion provider left. Women have to drive hundreds of miles, incurring huge travel expense, medical expense, not to mention time off of work and childcare to seek essential medical care. They have to endure laws that politicians have imposed that have no basis in medicine, science, or reality, and are there purely to shame and stigmatize.”

Lead Sponsor Representative Lois Frankel (D-FL)

“Four hundred laws passed in the last ten years, each trying to chip away and create obstacles to access to full health care. … We’re going to fight back on the streets, in the courts, and today, here, federally with this new Women’s Health Protection Act.”

Lead Sponsor Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

“Simply put, when Roe v. Wade is under attack, women’s health is under attack, and we will not stand for it. That’s why Senator Blumenthal and I have introduced the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would ensure that every woman has access to safe, quality reproductive care without interference from politicians.

Our bill creates clear federal protection against restrictions that unduly limit access to reproductive health care, and do nothing, I repeat nothing to promote women’s health and safety.”

Co-Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus Barbara Lee (D-CA)

“A woman—not politicians—a woman should make her own health care decisions. I want to share what Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reminded us about abortion rights: ‘When the government makes that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a full adult human, responsible for her own choices.’ And, well, let me tell you: reproductive rights are human rights.”

Lourdes Rivera, Senior Vice President, Center for Reproductive Rights

“We are not leaving anything to chance. We need a national law to protect equal access to abortion across America. Please join me in moving forward by supporting the Women’s Health Protection Act to assure the constitutional rights of all people, no matter what state they call home. We will not go back!”