Democrats in Congress on Tuesday reintroduced the Women's Health Protection Act, a legislation that will codify Roe v. Wade and will enable health care professionals to provide abortions and their patients to receive such care without violating national laws. The measure is also removing all limitations and requirements on abortion, preventing any state and federal lawmakers from establishing limits on abortion care. The bill was first introduced in 2013 and since then has been reintroduced in congressional sessions ever since, but never received a vote in the chambers.
"The enthusiastic rush of Congressional Democrats to sponsor this bill shows once again that the top legislative priority for Democrats is more and more abortions paid for with tax dollars," National Right to Life (NRLC) President Carol Tobias told LifeNews.
"The so-called Women's Health Protection Act would essentially remove all legal protections for unborn children on the federal and state level. The Women's Health Protection Act is, in effect, a no-limits-on-abortion-until-birth bill," Tobias added.
The upcoming measure from the Congressional Democrats will also threaten the federal conscience protection laws and most limits on government funded abortions. It will nullify several protective laws, including those that involve waiting periods, laws that empower medical professionals to opt out of providing abortions, those that ban elective abortions after 20 weeks when an unborn child can feel pain, and bans on the use of abortion as a away to choose the gender of a child.
The bill, if enacted, will also remove requirements providing pregnant women with specific information regarding their unborn child as well as information regarding other alternatives to abortion.
"This egregious, deceptively named bill is the latest example of Washington Democrats' extreme abortion agenda," Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser told Christian Headlines. "This radical bill would destroy existing pro-life protections at the state level and prevent future pro-life limits from being enacted. This is a direct attack on the will of the people, as demonstrated by the groundswell of pro-life legislation we've seen this year."
The Women's Health Protection Act is spearheaded by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin alongside Reps. Judy Chu of California, Lois Frankel of Florida, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Veronica Escobar of Texas.
According to NBC News, Sen. Blumenthal argued that now is the time to fight for women's reproductive rights because the Supreme Court is about to "consider a direct attack" on Roe v Wade. He said, "These demagogic and draconian laws hurt women and families as they make personal and difficult medical decisions."
Over 1,300 abortion restrictions have successfully been passed into law since Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court in 1973. But 10 states are already armed with "trigger laws" that will be enacted if and when Roe v. Wade is overturned.
If the Women's Health Protection Act gets passed, however, states will no longer be allowed to adopt new protective measures in the future, a concern highlighted by National Right to Life's Director for Federal Legislation, Jennifer Popik, J.D. She argued that the bill removing all limitations and requirements on abortion reintroduced by Congressional Democrats will ban states from creating and passing laws that are "upheld as constitutionally permissible by the U.S. Supreme Court."
