Rep. Haaland Will Join Women’s Health Protection Act to Protect Abortion Rights

Rep. Deb Haaland

Published May 24, 2019

WASHINGTON — One week after several states passed extremely restrictive abortion bills and just days after women in Albuquerque took to the streets to demand a stop to extreme bans, Congresswoman Deb Haaland (NM-01) announced she will join House Democrats on the Women’s Health Protection Act. The bill led by Representative Judy Chu (CA-27), chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus (PCC) Contraception and Family Planning Task Force, and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), will address the state-based attacks on abortion rights.

For years, anti-abortion advocates have worked on the state-level to pass laws meant to undermine or eliminate access to abortion care, despite the Supreme Court’s repeated recognition of abortion as a constitutional right, from Roe v. Wade in 1973 to Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt in 2016.

“Deeply personal health decisions should be left to a woman, her family, and her doctor, but these extreme movements to restrict women’s health care are taking us back to the days when women would die seeking reproductive health care,” said Congresswoman Deb Haaland. “The Women’s Health Protection Act makes it crystal clear government can take away a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions.

The Women’s Health Protection Act would override this strategy and codify the protections from Roe into law by prohibiting states from passing laws that restrict access to abortion for nonmedical reasons.