Friend, One minute before midnight, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 ruling declining to put a stop to S.B. 8, the draconian Texas law that bans access to abortion care after a mere six weeks of pregnancy and makes “bounty hunters” out of anyone opposed to abortion. Roe v. Wade’s protections are once again directly at risk. With a Mississippi challenge already at SCOTUS, and other challenges to abortion access already moving their way through state legislatures across the South, this could have a lasting nationwide impact. The Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) would establish federal protections for abortion care specifically and reproductive health care broadly – and it’s become abundantly clear that we have no time to waste. Far-right lawmakers won’t slow their attacks, so we need to ramp up our pressure on Congress to pass this vital bill right away. Sign NOW to urge Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act without delay! >> Speaker Nancy Pelosi just pledged that the House will bring up WHPA for a vote, “to enshrine into law reproductive health care for all women across America,” when representatives return from recess later this month.[1] We need to build support for this vital bill NOW and make sure both the House and Senate are feeling the pressure to act. WHPA is designed to put an end to, and declare illegal, abortion bans like S.B. 8. Further, passing WHPA would lift barriers to care that disproportionately harm Black, brown, and Indigenous people, transgender and queer people, disabled people, low-income people, and people living in rural areas – especially those in states (like Texas) where these appalling laws to virtually eliminate abortion access are being passed now. With S.B. 8’s challenge to Roe v. Wade and the grave threats it poses for Texans, it’s vital that the protections of the WHPA are codified in federal law before any further laws are enacted. 2021 has already been the most hostile year on record for state attacks on abortion access.[2] We need the WHPA so that we can stop these attacks. To save every person’s right to access abortion, and with Roe hanging in the balance of a radical right-wing Supreme Court, we need urgent action in Congress. In community, Sarah, Digital Campaigns Associate
[1] “Nancy Pelosi Announces Vote On Bill To Codify Roe v. Wade.” (The Huffington Post, 9/2/2021.) [2] “State Policy Trends at Midyear 2021: Already the Worst Legislative Year Ever for U.S. Abortion Rights.” (Guttmacher Institute, 7/1/2021.)
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