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Swalwell Votes to Defend Reproductive Health Rights Against Dangerous Assaults

September 24, 2021

WASHINGTON, DC– Today, Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) voted to pass the Women's Health Protection Act, a bill that guarantees the right for patients to access abortion care and the right for providers to provide abortion services, free from medically unnecessary and dangerous restrictions. The passage of the Women's Health Protection Act comes on the heels of Texas' SB 8 – the most restrictive abortion law in the country - which outlaws nearly all abortions after six weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest.

"Women's healthcare decisions must be respected," said Swalwell. "This bill takes the power to make those medical decisions out of governors' mansions and state legislatures and puts it back where it belongs – in the hands of patients and providers. I am proud to have voted for this bill and will continue fighting to protect a woman's right to choose."

This year is on track to be the worst legislative year for women's health rights ever, with 90 measures restricting reproductive rights enacted since July – more than in any year since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

The Women's Health Protection Act codifies the constitutional right to abortion care as found in Roe and reaffirmed in many subsequent decisions for nearly half a century. It establishes the federal statutory right for health care providers to offer abortion care and the federal right for patients to receive that care, free from state restrictions.

The bill passed the House with a vote of 218-211.

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