Rep. David Trone Votes to Defend the Freedom of Women to Make Their Own Healthcare Decisions, Enshrine Roe v. Wade Protections into Law

Press Release

WASHINGTON -- Today, Representative David Trone (MD-06) voted to defend women's constitutional right to reproductive health care by helping to pass the Women's Health Protection Act. Amid a dangerous assault on women's basic health freedoms -- from state houses across the country to the U.S. Supreme Court -- this landmark legislation enshrines into law the vital protections of Roe v. Wade and secures the right to reproductive care for all women across America.

"Women should have the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies, period," said Rep. Trone. "The Women's Health Protections Act works toward a future where all of us are free to

make personal decisions that will shape our lives, our futures, and our families, without interference from radical politicians. Today, Congress took an important step toward ensuring that everyone can have access to safe, affordable reproductive care, and I'm proud to be a part of this fight."

For years, radical state legislatures have waged an all-out assault on women's reproductive rights. 2021 is on track to be the worst legislative year for women's health rights ever, with 90 measures restricting reproductive rights enacted since July -- more than in any year since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. On May 19th, Texas enacted SB 8, which is now the most extreme abortion law in effect in the United States. This catastrophic legislation outlaws nearly all abortions after six weeks, with no exceptions for rape and incest, while also creating a chilling bounty system that deputizes private citizens to sue health care providers or anyone else they believe has helped a woman get an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

Shamefully, the Supreme Court voted to permit this law to go into effect, despite its flagrant violation of the Constitution, by effectively denying Texas women the ability to exercise their constitutional rights guaranteed by Roe. The Supreme Court could take further action to gut Roe's essential protections when it considers Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on December 1st.

The Women's Health Protections Act codifies the constitutional right to abortion care as found in Roe and reaffirmed in many subsequent decisions for nearly half a century. It establishes the federal statutory right for health care providers to offer abortion care and the federal right for patients to receive that care, free from state restrictions. Enshrining these essential rights is also an issue of racial and economic justice, as restrictions on reproductive care disproportionately harm women of color and women from low-income communities and perpetuate long-standing inequities.

Congressman David Trone was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2018 to serve the 6th District of Maryland, which includes all or part of Montgomery, Frederick, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett Counties. Trone serves on the Appropriations, Veterans' Affairs, and Joint Economic Committees in the 117th Congress and previously served on the Education and Labor and Foreign Affairs Committees. In Congress, Trone is fighting to make progress on issues that matter to Marylanders, including the mental health and addiction crises, criminal justice reform, and funding for medical research.

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