Today the AHA joined more than 225 organizations to say the time is now to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA). This historic legislation will help protect abortion access nationwide.
Read the letter sent to the US Senate below or download a PDF.
SUPPORT THE WOMEN’S HEALTH PROTECTION ACT
Dear Senators:
The more than 225 undersigned organizations dedicated to protecting and advancing civil rights, health, economic security, LGBTQ rights, and gender justice write in support of S. 1975, the “Women’s Health Protection Act” (WHPA). We urge the Senate to swiftly bring the bill to the floor and for all Senators to vote yes on passage.
Despite the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade nearly fifty years ago, abortion access has continued to be under threat. Anti-abortion politicians and advocates have continued to undermine abortion access both at the federal and state levels. This is part of a nearly fifty-year strategy to make abortion wholly inaccessible for those who need it. In September, and again in December, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to to put an end to Texas’s S.B. 8, a six-week abortion ban, rendering Roe v. Wade’s protections meaningless for the majority of Texas abortion patients, and giving other states hostile to reproductive rights a green light to ban abortion outright in the near future. People with resources are being forced to flee the state to access abortion, while those who are unable to leave the state are being forced to continue their pregnancies against their wishes. Around the same time, the Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case in which Mississippi has asked the Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court could gut or wholly overturn the right to abortion by this summer.
WHPA would help protect access to abortion against state-level bans and medically unnecessary restrictions that are reducing, and in some cases, eliminating, access to abortion across the country. WHPA establishes a statutory right for health care providers to provide, and their patients to receive, abortion free from medically unnecessary restrictions, and limitations, as well as other restrictions, including bans, that single out abortion and impede access to care.
Reproductive rights are human rights. Every person should have the ability to decide if, when, and how they want to start or grow a family without the interference of politicians. But for some communities of color and people living with low incomes, this right has been in name only. Due to systemic barriers and discrimination, abortion bans disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American and Pacific Islanders, LGBTQ+ folks, immigrants, people with disabilities, young people, and those living in rural areas — those who are already medically underserved and experience multiple inequities in care. Abortion bans are yet another way in which health care access is denied to those who face systemic oppression in this country.
The 2021 state legislative season was the most hostile for reproductive health and rights since Roe was decided. According to the Guttmacher Institute, over 600 abortion restrictions in 47 states were introduced last year alone, and 108 of those were enacted. But while these attacks are accelerating, they are not new. State legislatures have enacted over 1,330 restrictions in the 49 years since Roe was decided, including 591 restrictions enacted since 2011. Restrictions on abortion are not by happenstance, but are a part of a legacy of reproductive oppression in this country that by design disproportinately impact BIPOC, young people, people with disabilities, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ and other communities targeted by systemic oppression.
Around half the states in the U.S. are poised to move to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade were overturned — jeopardizing access for nearly half the country, 36 million women of reproductive age, plus trans men and non-binary people. Today, nearly 90% of American counties are without a single abortion provider, and 27 cities have become “abortion deserts,” because people who live there must travel 100 miles or more to reach a provider. There are currently five states with only one abortion provider. The vast majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal: 80% of Americans believe abortion should be legal, and there is no state where outlawing abortion is popular.
Abortion is a personal medical decision and a safe procedure that enables people to make critical health care decisions that impact their lives, their families, and their communities that should be left to an individual, not politicians. Nearly 1 in 4 women will have an abortion in their lifetime. Each pregnant person who is seeking abortion should have the reliable and affordable access they need to this constitutionally protected medical care.
If the Supreme Court of the United States decides to dismantle or even overturn Roe v. Wade, there is no telling how it might further dismantle immigrant, LGBTQ+, and a multitude of other rights. The Senate must follow in the House of Representatives’ footsteps now and pass WHPA to protect access to abortion and ensure that no one is denied this fundamental right.
Sincerely,
9to5
Abortion Access Front
ADL (Anti-Defamation League)
Advocates for Youth
ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal
All-Options
Alliance for Justice
Ameinu
American Atheists
American Civil Liberties Union
American Humanist Association
American Sexual Health Association
American Society for Emergency Contraception
American Society for Reproductive Medicine
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Amnesty International USA
Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO)
Athlete Ally
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Bartz-Altadonna Community Health Center
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Black Women for Wellness
Black Women’s Health Imperative
Blue Future
Broward for Progress
CA LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network
California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
Catholics for Choice
Center for American Progress
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Law and Social Policy
Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR)
Center for Reproductive Rights
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Coalition of Labor Union Women
Cobalt
Collective Power for Reproductive Justice
Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR)
Community Catalyst
Community Medical Centers
Demos
Downtown Women for Change
Economic Opportunity Institute
EMAA Project
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)
End Citizens United / Let America Vote Action Fund
Equal Rights Advocates
Equality California
Equality North Carolina
Faith Choice Ohio
Families USA
Family Equality
Feminist Agenda Network
Feminist Women’s Health Center
Florida Health Justice Project
Florida Interfaith Coalition for Reproductive Health and Justice
FORGE, Inc.
Freedom From Religion Foundation
Friends of the Earth US
Gender Justice
Girls Inc.
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders
GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality
Global Justice Center
Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights (GRR!)
Guttmacher Institute
Hadassah, NCJW,
Healthy Teen Network
Hispanic Federation
Hope Clinic for Women
Human Impact Partners
Human Rights Campaign
Immigration Hub
In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda
Indiana Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Indivisible
Interfaith Voices for Reproductive Justice (IVRJ)
Ipas
Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
Jewish Democratic Council of America
Jewish Labor Committee
Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance
Justice for Migrant Women
Kentucky Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Lambda Legal
Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA)
Latino Victory
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Legal Aid at Work
Legal Voice
Liberate Abortion
Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom
Mabel Wadsworth Center
Mainers for Accountable Leadership Action
Management Sciences for Health
Mazzoni Center
MDK consulting group
Metropolitan Community Churches, Global Justice Institute
Mi Famila Vota
Midwest Access Project
MomsRising
Moving Traditions
Ms. Foundation for Women
Muslims for Progressive Values
NARAL Pro-Choice America
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)
National Association of Social Workers
National Birth Equity Collaborative
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Council of Asian Pacific Americans
National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)
National Council of Jewish Women, Arizona
National Council of Jewish Women, Atlanta
National Council of Jewish Women, Austin
National Council of Jewish Women, Bergen County
National Council of Jewish Women, California
National Council of Jewish Women, Chicago North Shore
National Council of Jewish Women, Cleveland
National Council of Jewish Women, Dallas
National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County
National Council of Jewish Women, Georgia
National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Dallas
National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Philadelphia
National Council of Jewish Women, Houston
National Council of Jewish Women, Lakeville
National Council of Jewish Women, Louisville
National Council of Jewish Women, Maryland Action Team
National Council of Jewish Women, Michigan
National Council of Jewish Women, Milwaukee Section
National Council of Jewish Women, Minnesota
National Council of Jewish Women, Nashville
National Council of Jewish Women, Palm Beach
National Council of Jewish Women, Peninsula
National Council of Jewish Women, Pennsylvania
National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh
National Council of Jewish Women, Sacramento
National Council of Jewish Women, Saddleback
National Council of Jewish Women, San Antonio
National Council of Jewish Women, South Cook
National Council of Jewish Women, St. Louis
National Council of Jewish Women, Texas
National Council of Jewish Women, Virginia
National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association
National Health Law Program
National Hispanic Medical Association
National Immigration Law Center
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice
National Organization for Women
National Organization for Women, Hollywood Chapter
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA)
National Urban League
National Women’s Health Network
National Women’s Law Center
New Voices for Reproductive Justice
NM Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
NOISE FOR NOW
Nuestro PAC
Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice
One Fair Wage
Our Revolution
PAI
People For the American Way
PFLAG National
Physicians for Reproductive Health
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Poder Latinx
Poder NC
Population Institute
Positive Women’s Network-USA
Power to Decide
Presbyterians Affirming Reproductive Rights (PARO)
Prevention Institute
Pro-Choice North Carolina
Pro-Choice Virginia
Rabbinical Assembly
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice – IL affiliate
Reproductive Health Access Project
Resilience, formerly Rape Victim Advocates
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change
Silver State Equality-Nevada
SisterLove, Inc.
SisterReach
Society for Humanistic Judaism
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
Supermajority
T’ruah
Taller Salud
Tampa Bay Access Force
The Black Women’s Health Imperative
The Falls Church Episcopal
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
The National Center for Transgender Equality
The National Domestic Violence Hotline
The National Women’s Health Network
The Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network
The Womxn Project
Transgender Law Center
True North Research
UltraViolet
Union for Reform Judaism and Women of Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Association
United State of Women
United We Dream
URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity
Voto Latino
WCLA – Choice Matters
We Testify
Whole Woman’s Health
Whole Woman’s Health Alliance
Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania
Women Employed
Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER)
Women’s Law Project
Women’s March
Women’s Media Center
Women’s Rabbinic Network
Women’s Voices for the Earth
WOMEN’S WAY
Young Invincibles
YWCA USA
Zero Hour