POWER TO DECIDE HAILS THE INTRODUCTION OF THE WOMEN’S HEALTH PROTECTION ACT
(Washington, D.C.) — Today, Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Veronica Escobar (D-TX) of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) of the U.S. Senate are introducing the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA).
The bill would create a statutory right for health care providers to provide abortion care and a corresponding right for their patients to receive abortion care without medically unnecessary restrictions, such as mandatory waiting periods, biased counseling and mandatory ultrasounds. Such restrictions impede access to abortion care and disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) who already face systemic barriers to health care access.
In response, Power to Decide, CEO, Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley issued the following statement:
“I have been a practicing OB-GYN who includes abortion care in my practice for nearly two decades and understand all too well that for many people in this country, access to abortion care is at best a significant challenge and at worse out of reach.
“The burdens of these unnecessary restrictions fall hardest on people with low incomes and people of color who already face systemic barriers to health care access, and those from rural areas who often cannot navigate around these medically unnecessary requirements. Unfortunately, these restrictions have become commonplace as a result of coordinated efforts to restrict abortion care.
“Since 2011, state legislatures across the country have passed nearly 500 laws that restrict or outright ban abortion care. In fact, the Supreme Court recently announced it would examine a Mississippi law which bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The Women’s Health Protection Act is a comprehensive and fundamental response to abortion care restrictions. The act serves to ensure access to abortion is equitable and attainable to all who need it so that all people regardless of who they are and where they live have the power to decide if, when and under what circumstances to get pregnant and have a child.”
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. Please visit us at www.PowerToDecide.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
