Congresswoman Scanlon Votes to Defend Americans’ Reproductive Health Freedoms
Washington,
July 15, 2022
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) today voted to pass two pieces of legislation to protect abortion access nationwide in response to the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade and the subsequent push from Republicans for a nationwide abortion ban. The Women's Health Protection Act will make the protections of Roe v. Wade the law of the land, and the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act will reaffirm the right to freely travel throughout the country to access reproductive care. “I proudly voted today to defend Americans’ health and uphold our most basic freedoms,” said Rep. Scanlon. “In the weeks since the Supreme Court’s extremist majority overturned Roe v. Wade, the Republican Party has wasted no time making moves to punish and control women by criminalizing their health decisions across the nation. Just last week, Pennsylvania Republicans rammed through an extremist constitutional amendment to limit access to abortion care. Today’s legislation would protect Americans from these assaults on their well-being by enshrining the protections of Roe into federal law and cracking down on right-wing threats to legal reproductive care.”
In response to the extremist assault on reproductive freedom, the House again passed the Women's Health Protection Act to enshrine Roe v. Wade into federal law. Previously passed by the House last year, the landmark legislation is updated to address the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling. The Women's Health Protection Act will restore the right to an abortion nationwide, upholding all Americans’ freedom to make their own health care decisions and providers’ freedom to provide abortion care. The bill would supersede state legislation – voiding all state-level abortion bans throughout the country.
The House also advanced the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act to address Republicans’ attempts to restrict Americans’ freedom of movement. The legislation will ensure no person acting under state law can prevent, restrict, impede, or otherwise retaliate against a person traveling across state lines to obtain a lawful abortion, including vigilantes who may be empowered by states to seek out a person for obtaining an abortion.
Find the full text of the Ensuring Women's Right to Reproductive Freedom Act here. Find the full text of the Women's Health Protection Act here.
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