John, today, I introduced the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance, or the  EACH Act. This is urgently-needed legislation to reverse the Hyde Amendment and fund abortion access. Here's why:

This fight is personal to me. Long before Roe v. Wade, I got pregnant at 15 years old. With the help, love and support of my mother, I made the decision to get an abortion. But with no access to the health care I needed in the U.S., I had to travel from my home in California to Mexico to receive an abortion in a back-alley clinic in the middle of the night.

My experience was traumatizing. I'm lucky to say I lived, especially during a time when so many Black women died of septic abortion. That’s why I’m fighting tooth and nail for this generation and the next to have the right to a safe and legal abortion – and to do that, we must pass the EACH Act.

This legislation will make sure that all people have coverage for pregnancy-related health care – including abortion – regardless of their financial situation. I know just how essential this bill is – as does Vice President Harris, who I joined this past Sunday to commemorate what should have been the 50th anniversary of Roe.

But this fight won't be easy. As we face a GOP-led House determined to roll back reproductive rights nationwide, we must send a clear message to the GOP that the majority of this country supports access to safe, legal abortions.

That’s why I'm counting on your help today. I'm looking for 5,000 members of this grassroots team – including you, John – to sign on to my urgent petition before midnight. So please, will you add your name to join me in calling on Congress to pass the EACH Act and establish equitable access to abortion coverage?

Thank you for taking up the mantle with me to fight for abortion rights. 

– Barbara Lee