Power to Decide Urges U.S. Senate to Support the Women’s Health Protection Act

(Washington, D.C.) The U.S. Senate will take a vote today on whether to advance the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), a measure that would codify into federal law the rights of people to receive abortion care, and to do so without medically unnecessary restrictions, such as mandatory waiting periods, ultrasounds or biased counseling. 

The following statement can be attributed to Power to Decide CEO Raegan McDonald-Mosley, MD, MPH:  

“We urge the U.S. Senate to support the Women’s Health Protection Act, and to protect the right to access abortion for people in every U.S. state. Abortion is essential health care that all people should have access to, regardless of who they are or where they live. 

“The publication of a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion last week confirmed what many of us knew, that our constitutional right to abortion care is under imminent threat. Worse, we also know that the threat does not end with abortion care, but extends to birth control, sex ed and a host of basic rights we’ve come to rely on over generations.

“Abortion bans are in direct conflict with popular opinion. Recent polling from Power to Decide found that 74% of respondents believe abortion care should remain legal. In addition, 66% are concerned that people may not be able to access abortion care now and in the future.

“We also know that abortion restrictions have a disproportionate impact on people who have enormous barriers to access including people of color, people with low incomes and young people. So, it is critically important that the Senate act now to help ensure that people are not subject to a patchwork of state laws designed only to make abortion care harder – if not impossible – to access.

“We must pass WHPA now and help ensure all people have access to health care they need to decide their futures and live life on their own terms.”

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Power to Decide is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization that works to ensure all people—no matter who they are, where they live, or what their economic status might be—have the power to decide if, when and under what circumstances to get pregnant or have a child.