Congresswoman Lois Frankel (FL-22), joined U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (CT) and Tammy Baldwin (WI), and U.S. Representatives Judy Chu (CA-27) and Marcia Fudge (OH-11) today to reintroduce the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2015, a historic pro-choice bill that would make it illegal for states to chip away at women’s reproductive rights.

The Women’s Health Protection Act creates federal protections against state restrictions that single out abortion services for unnecessary regulations. It protects a woman’s individual constitutional rights and her ability to access quality health care, no matter where she lives.

It would prohibit laws that impose burdensome requirements on access to reproductive health services like requiring doctors to perform tests and procedures that doctors themselves have deemed unnecessary, or preventing doctors from prescribing and dispensing medication as is medically appropriate. These restrictions are unnecessary, extreme measures that do not significantly advance women’s health or the safety of abortion services. Instead, they aim to make abortion services more difficult to access.

Frankel said, “Every woman deserves the right to make her own health care decisions, no matter what state she lives in.”

Blumenthal said, “The protections in this measure are more necessary now than ever before in our history because an avalanche of restrictive, reprehensible state laws is drastically reducing fundamental health care rights. The Women’s Health Protection Act seeks to strip away the deceptive pretext of safeguarding women’s health when the goal of such state laws is actually to sabotage fundamental Constitutional rights, and increasingly they are achieving that goal.”

Baldwin said, “In my home state of Wisconsin and in states across the country, politicians have been standing firmly between women and their doctors by enacting a record number of laws restricting their reproductive health choices in an attempt to appease the extreme wing of their party. It is past time to stand up to these radical assaults on women’s rights, which is why I am proud to reintroduce the Women’s Health Protection Act.  Every woman, regardless of where she lives, deserves the freedom to make her own, personal decisions about her health care, her family, and her body.” 

Chu said, “A woman’s rights should not change according to her zip code. Yet that is the reality today when it comes to her right to choose. I am proud to reintroduce the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would put an end to the actions taken by states to deny women access to safe and legal abortions. Our laws should put women’s health and safety first – not politics.”

Fudge said, “Women have a constitutional right to make their own decisions regarding reproductive health.  Unfortunately, legislative attacks at the state level have diminished access to essential reproductive care in some parts of the country, including my home state of Ohio.  These burdensome and unlawful regulations do nothing to protect a woman’s health or safety.  I stand with Americans who believe a woman has the right to make her own health decisions in consultation with her family and her health providers, not based on her zip code or the preferences of an interfering politician.”

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