Since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, many states have taken action to deny abortion care. Thirteen states now have near-total abortion bans in place, and access to medication abortion is restricted in 15 states. Some of these restrictions even attempt to prevent state residents from getting an abortion in other states, to prohibit abortion even for medical reasons, or to outright criminalize abortion.
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Access to safe and legal abortion health care is a right, and the removal of that access by the Republican Party harms our health and lives.
Five women in Texas are now suing the state, alleging that they were personally harmed by the refusal of an abortion despite threats to their own health or fetal conditions incompatible with life. Doctors can now not fulfill their professional obligations to care for their pregnant patients because of state laws that forbid it.
It is critical for Congress to step in and stop this harm; dire impacts can be avoided by affording patients the right to access reproductive health care. Passing federal legislation to protect reproductive rights for everyone is essential, and Congress has a chance to do just that. The Women's Health Protection Act of 2023 provides a nationwide safeguard against abortion bans and restrictions that push abortion care out of reach by protecting the right to an abortion at the national level.
Sign the petition: Demand Congress pass the Women's Health Protection Act.
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The GOP attacks on our health care access are ongoing. We now await what could be the worst federal abortion ruling since Roe v. Wade was overturned, as Trump appointee Matthew Kacsmaryk, District Court Judge for the Northern District of Texas, will rule whether or not to revoke the FDA’s 23-year-old approval of mifepristone for the entire nation. Medication abortion, using mifepristone, is the most widely used form of abortion, accounting for 53% of all abortions performed in the U.S.
These trends are dire. As bans and restrictions on reproductive health care increase, our economic security, our health, and our lives are increasingly jeopardized. Members of Congress are elected to protect Americans, and it’s time they do just that.
By passing the WHPA, our legislators could lift barriers to reproductive health care that disproportionately impact Black, brown, and Indigenous people, trans and queer people, disabled people, low-income people, and people living in rural areas. They could prevent more maternal and infant deaths. And they would enshrine reproductive freedom.
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Abortion care must be free, accessible, and available everywhere, in every state, for everyone. When we expand access, we all win.
People are currently being denied abortion care, so we don't have time to waste. Congress must use every possible tool at its disposal to guarantee reproductive freedom for all.
Sign the petition: Demand Congress pass the Women's Health Protection Act.