House passes abortion rights bill in response to restrictive Texas


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a news conference about the House vote on H.R. 3755, the “Women’s Health Protection Act” legislation to “establish a federally protected right to abortion access” at the Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 24, 2021.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

House Democrats on Friday approved wide-ranging legislation to protect abortion rights, a swift but mostly symbolic response to the Supreme Court’s refusal to block a Texas law banning most abortions.

The bill, which passed 218-211, is principally a show of solidarity, given that the bill, the Women’s Health Protection Act, will face steep opposition from Senate Republicans and is not expected to advance through the chamber.

Democrats believe the bill would guarantee the right to abortion through federal law and cement the decision of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a constitutional right to the procedure.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., worked quickly to schedule action on the bill after the high court earlier this month refused to block a controversial Texas law that prohibits abortions after roughly six weeks, before most even realize they are pregnant.

Specifically, the Texas law says doctors may not perform abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected, activity that usually begins at around six weeks of gestation. That law went into effect on Sept. 1.

The Texas law does not make exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest, and it is unprecedented in deputizing private citizens to sue anyone who performs the procedure or “aids and abets” it.

Pelosi offered comments prior to the bill’s passage Friday morning and offered a pointed rebuke to the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision earlier this month. The justices who voted not to block the law focused on procedural questions and stressed that they have yet to judge the constitutionality of the law.

“This is about freedom. About freedom of women to have choice about the size and timing of their families, not the business of people on the [Supreme] Court or members of Congress,” the House speaker said.

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Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington and chairwoman of the Progressive Caucus, said from the House floor that she has had an abortion and urged fellow lawmakers not to criminalize the procedure.

“One in four women across America have had an abortion. I am one of them,” she said prior to the bill’s passage. “Terminating my pregnancy, Madam Speaker, was not an easy choice for me. But it was my choice. It is time to preserve that for all people.”

The act would establish a statutory right for health-care providers to provide, and patients to receive, abortion care without certain limitations or requirements.

Specifically, the bill would give patients the right to an abortion without medically unnecessary tests or procedures — generally understood to include ultrasounds, counseling or mandatory waiting…



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