Democrats introduce legislation to restore Roe v. Wade

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last summer to overturn Roe v. Wade,House Democrats – including U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) – introduced legislation today to restore the protections that were in place prior to the Court’s decision and, once again, give every American a federally protected right to access abortion care.  

The legislation – known as the Women’s Health Protection Act – would create a federal statutory right for health care providers to provide abortion care, and a right for patients to receive such care, free of any bans or restrictions that states may try to impose to limit access. It would, in essence, codify the protections that were in place under Roe v. Wade and restore the right of every American to access abortion care – regardless of where they live.

“We will use every opportunity and tool at our disposal to make sure that we find a way to pass this bill,” said DeGette, who serves as co-chair of the House Pro-Choice Caucus, at a press conference Thursday announcing the introduction of the legislation, which has the support of over 200 co-sponsors in the House. “We will fight every day, in every way to make sure this is the law of the land.”

The legislation comes as more states across the U.S. move to restrict Americans’ access to abortion care. On Tuesday, lawmakers in Idaho advanced legislation to prevent its residents from leaving the state for reproductive care. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Texas are pursuing legislation to ban its residents from accessing abortion pills.

For nearly 50 years, women across the U.S. had a federally protected right to access abortion care as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade. That right, however, was taken away last year when the Court decided to overturn Roe v. Wade, a move that ended federal protections for abortion rights and cleared the way for Republican-leaning states to enact their own restrictions on abortion care.

In the months since the decision, more than a dozen states have moved to ban or restrict abortion care within their borders. As a result, more than 20% of Americans now live in areas where such care is no longer accessible to them.

The average amount of time it takes for women to travel to an abortion clinic in the U.S. has more than tripled since the Court’s decision last summer. As a result, a growing number of women who are unable to travel or access medication abortion have been forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term.

A copy of the legislation is available here.

A link to watch video of DeGette’s remarks at today’s press conference is available here.