Rep. Smith Votes to Pass Women's Health Protection Act of 2021

Press Release

Today, Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) voted to pass H.R. 3755, the Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA) of 2021, which would create federal protections against state restrictions that aim to limit a person's rights to abortion and abortion care. The WHPA would create a right for health care providers to provide abortion care, and a right for patients to receive that care, free from medically unnecessary restrictions that impede abortion access.

"Today I was incredibly proud to vote to pass the Women's Health Protection Act to protect the right to equal access to abortion for every person in our country, regardless of where they live. Personal decisions about a person's body should be left between the person and their doctor -- a precedent established by the Supreme Court ruling of Roe v. Wade (1973) -- period, full stop.

"However, in recent years we have seen unconstitutional and cruel state legislation that deliberately violates the rights codified in Roe that have successfully undermined or functionally eliminated access to abortion. As a result, access to both abortion care and reproductive health services have suffered. People should not have to depend on their zip code or socioeconomic status to access the full suite of reproductive health care options they are guaranteed under the Constitution. As hundreds of these aggressive, invasive, and unconstitutional laws are introduced across the country one thing is abundantly clear: urgent Congressional action is in dire need.

"Today House Democrats rose to the occasion and for the first time in nearly 30 years Congress has taken proactive action to protect every person's right to control their own health care. Now the Senate must take up this critical legislation to prevent the evisceration of abortion access."

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