Booker and Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Allow Use of U.S. Foreign Assistance for Abortion Care Overseas

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tina Smith (D-MN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), introduced the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, which would repeal the 1973 Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act to ensure that U.S. foreign assistance may be used to provide the full scope of comprehensive health care, including safe and legal access to abortion services. The bill also includes language clarifying that under U.S. government policy, safe abortion care is a critical component of comprehensive maternal and reproductive care.

The Helms Amendment endangers lives by prohibiting U.S. foreign assistance from being used for "the performance of abortion as a method of family planning" abroad. However, in practice, the Amendment has been applied as a total ban on U.S. foreign aid being used to provide any abortion care service--including the provision of information--even in cases of rape, incest, and life endangerment, despite exemptions for these specific cases in statute. According to research by the Guttmacher Institute, repealing the Helms Amendment would lead to 19 million fewer unsafe abortions and 17,000 fewer maternal deaths each year.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky introduced H.R. 1670, the House companion bill, which now has 177 cosponsors.

"We know that in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, Americans will be denied access to essential health care services across the United States; however, the repercussions also go beyond our borders. This disastrous decision will be felt around the world, setting back many countries who have long used Roe v. Wade as the basis to strengthen abortion rights protections in their own countries. We must take immediate action to mitigate the global impact of this decision," said Sen. Booker. "For that reason, I am proud to introduce the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, which will repeal the Helms Amendment and ensure that U.S. foreign assistance can be used for safe abortion services overseas."

"The fight to secure reproductive health care for all does not stop at our borders," said Sen. Hirono. "By ending the prohibition on foreign aid being used for abortion care, the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act will help expand access to critical reproductive services in some of the world's most vulnerable communities. As we fight to defend fundamental reproductive rights in the U.S., this legislation will help millions around the world exercise their right to access comprehensive reproductive health care services."

"Abortion care is a fundamental component of comprehensive reproductive health care and a basic human right," said Sen. Smith. "I believe the United States has a responsibility to protect and uphold human rights. I also believe we need to continually strive to do better, both at home and abroad. That's why I'm proud to introduce this critical legislation that would ensure that foreign assistance programs funded by our government are protecting and expanding access to safe abortion care."

"This legislation will increase global access to safe reproductive health care and family planning services,"said Sen. Blumenthal. "With reproductive rights under assault as never before, repealing the harmful Helms Amendment is necessary to ensure women have the freedom to make decisions about their bodies and futures. Funding for these comprehensive, affordable services is essential to the health and economic wellbeing of women around the world."

"I am proud to lead the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act in the House, the first-ever legislation to repeal the racist 49-year-old Helms Amendment. This harmful policy bars US Foreign Assistance from being used to offer abortion care, even in countries where abortion is legal. That is wrong. The United States should not be standing in the way of health care in other countries," said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. "Now, for the first time in history, this legislation is being introduced in the U.S. Senate. I am grateful for Senator Booker's leadership to repeal the Helms Amendment and expand abortion access in this critical moment. Abortion is health care, and health care is a human right."

The Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act is cosponsored by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT).