WASHINGTON, D.C. – Physicians today urged the U.S. Senate to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, which will protect the right to access abortion care. This federal legislation is necessary and beyond due, as the U.S. Supreme Court considers two cases that severely restrict abortion and have the potential to overturn or weaken Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case guaranteeing the legal right to abortion. The Senate’s vote on WHPA also comes as a multitude of state legislatures are actively making access to abortion care more difficult or nearly impossible.
“As physicians, we made a commitment to our patients that we would fight to ensure they have access to the full range of health care they need and with the compassion, dignity and respect they deserve, and abortion care is an integral part of reproductive health care,” said Dr. Didi Saint Louis, an OBGYN from Atlanta, Georgia. “All people deserve equal access to abortion care, regardless of their circumstances. As physicians, we should be allowed to recommend the full scope of care for our patients, and in many instances in reproductive health, that care includes abortions. The Women’s Health Protection Act helps ensure politicians don’t get to use their partisan agenda and wedge issues to prevent patients from deciding what’s best for them.”
WHPA has already been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. If signed into law, WHPA will protect physicians’ rights to provide abortion care and patients’ rights to receive that care. By protecting the legal right and expanding access to abortion care, WHPA overrides any federal or state restrictions and bans on abortion. WHPA guarantees access to abortion care even if the Supreme Court strikes down or weakens Roe v. Wade in its pending ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
“The Women’s Health Protection Act recognizes the fact that abortions may be necessary for many medical reasons, from chronic diseases to a history of miscarriages to a new diagnosis such as cancer that may complicate a pregnancy,” said Dr. Cecilia Grande, MD, FACOG, NCMP, an OBGYN from South Miami, Florida. “People who aren’t emotionally or financially able to have a baby should have access to abortion if that option is right for them and their families. Some people simply don’t want to be pregnant right now, and it is our job as physicians to provide every patient with the care they are seeking. It is our job to protect patients from the physical and emotional risks of an unwanted pregnancy. And all health decisions, including abortion, should be made in the privacy of the patient-doctor relationship, not in the public mosh-pit of partisan politics. We cannot allow politicians to take away patients’ personal freedom to do what is best for them and their families.”
Within the first sixty days of 2022, 50 anti-abortion bills were introduced in state legislatures. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, 26 states will ban abortion immediately. Abortion care is on the line.
“Physicians and health professionals know that restricting abortion access disproportionately affects people who have limited resources or already face barriers to overall medical care, and this includes people with lower incomes, residents in rural areas, and Black, Brown, Indigenous and minoritized populations,” said Dr. Bhavik Kumar, board-certified family physician and abortion provider in Houston, Texas, and Texas State Lead for the Committee to Protect Health Care. “We know that denying access to abortion for people who want an abortion can adversely affect their health, safety and economic wellbeing. We also know that forcing a person to carry a pregnancy to term can force them to remain with a violent partner. Protecting and expanding abortion access is critical to promoting safe and healthy communities and that’s why as physicians, we urge the U.S. Senate to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act and for the President to swiftly sign this monumental legislation into law.”
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About the Committee to Protect Health Care
The Committee to Protect Health Care is a national mobilization of doctors, health care professionals, and advocates who are building a pro-patient health care majority in Congress and in states so that we can live in an America where everyone has the health care they need to thrive. To learn more: www.committeetoprotect.org
