House Votes to Affirm Equal Access to Abortion Care

Sep 24, 2021
By: ASRM
Origin: ASRM Bulletin

The House of Representatives today took a stand for women’s health, voting to advance the ASRM-endorsed Women’s Health Protection Act ( H.R. 3755, WHPA) to the Senate. ASRM joined more than 100 federal, state and local reproductive health, rights and justice organizations in supporting this legislation, which creates a federal safeguard against state-level bans and medically unnecessary restrictions, including mandatory waiting periods, biased counseling, and mandatory ultrasounds, that single out abortion and impede access to care. WHPA would also create a statutory right for health care providers to provide abortion care, and a corresponding right for their patients to receive that care. Read more about WHPA here.

Since 2011, anti-abortion lawmakers have pushed more than 500 restrictive laws through state legislatures that make abortion difficult and, sometimes, impossible to access. These abortion restrictions and bans are becoming more extreme—and are disproportionately harming people who already face discriminatory obstacles to health care, particularly Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, those working to make ends meet, women, young people, people with disabilities, immigrants, people living in rural communities, and members of the LGBTQI+ community.  ASRM remains fully committed to work to guarantee women’s rights to control their reproductive health choices.

Also this week, ASRM joined 24 leading medical organizations on an Amicus Brief to the Supreme Court in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Read ACOG’s full press release and summary of the brief here. The Supreme Court has scheduled arguments in the case on December 1. ASRM’s Office of Public Affairs is closely monitoring and will share related developments.

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Sean Tipton
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