Friend,

The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments from those challenging Texas’ abortion ban, including from our own Department of Justice.

But while the conservative-majority Court is deciding whether to allow the most restrictive abortion ban in the country to be challenged, Texas women are being forced to travel out of state for abortion care. Those who don’t have the resources to do so are being forced to carry their pregnancies – even in cases of rape or incest.

We cannot wait for the Supreme Court to act. This draconian law is putting far too many women at risk right now, with each passing day, each passing hour. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, “Every day the Court fails to grant relief is devastating, both for individual women and for our constitutional system as a whole.”

Just recently, the House of Representatives passed its companion legislation to my bill, the Women’s Health Protection Act. This legislation would guarantee a woman’s right to make her own reproductive healthcare decisions. It would stop right-wing, extremist attempts to undermine the rule of law and legal precedent, as Texas Republicans have attempted to do. I am calling on this team to help me pass this lifesaving bill through the Senate.

Friend, the Women’s Health Protection Act would enshrine a woman’s right to access abortion services at the federal level and ensure it is safeguarded in all situations. That is what the majority of Americans want, and it is what our system of law demands. But we need to pick up grassroots momentum massively to ensure this legislation is passed in the Senate. Please, will you sign on now if you believe the Senate should enshrine abortion rights into law?

We know all too well the reality of this moment, Friend: Donald Trump cemented an ideologically extreme conservative majority on the Supreme Court – pre-selecting and then appointing justices with a proven track record of being hostile to Roe v. Wade. If the court upholds abortion bans in Texas and other states like Mississippi, a woman’s right to choose could disappear overnight in America.

That’s why we must take legislative action that will protect women’s healthcare decisions no matter what – and with the Supreme Court issuing decisions in a matter of weeks, it needs to happen this instant.

I’m still 650 grassroots signatures short of my goal, so I’m counting on you to speak up: Urge the Senate to enshrine a woman’s right to choose into federal law by passing the Women’s Health Protection Act.

Thank you,

Dick