House Passes Two Bills Restoring Nationwide Access to Abortion
- July 22, 2022
The House passed July 15 two measures to restore access to reproductive health care in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v Wade.
Both H.R. 8296, the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022, and H.R.8297, the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act of 2022, passed along party line votes with the latter earning the support of three Republican members.
The Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022, which passed by a vote of 219-210, prohibits governmental restrictions on the provision of, and access to, abortion services.
Under the bill, governments may not limit a provider's ability to: prescribe certain drugs, offer abortion services via telemedicine, or immediately provide abortion services when the provider determines a delay risks the patient's health.
“Today, House Democrats affirmed once again we will stand up and fight for abortion rights for every person in this country, regardless of your zip code,” Representative Judy Chu (D-CA) said in a press release. “Three weeks ago, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs decision — stripping away the fundamental rights of millions of Americans in an instant. That is why the House passed our bill today, the Women’s Health Protection Act, which creates a federal right to abortion care for every person in every state of this country, and a right for health care providers to provide that care.”
The Ensuring Access to Abortion Act of 2022, which passed by a vote of 223 to 205, prohibits anyone acting under state law from interfering with a person's ability to access out-of-state abortion services.
Specifically, the bill prohibits any person acting under state law from preventing, restricting, impeding, or retaliating against: health care providers who provide legal abortion services to out-of-state residents; any person or entity who helps health care providers to provide such services; any person who travels to another state to obtain such services; any person or entity who helps another person travel to another state to obtain such services; or the movement in interstate commerce of drugs that are approved to terminate pregnancies.
The bill allows the Department of Justice to enforce its provisions through civil actions and also establishes a private right of action for violations.
The bills are not expected to pass the Senate where they would need to garner 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.