Comment The House passed legislation Friday that would protect access to reproductive health care, including the ability to travel across state lines for an abortion, as part of Democrats’ efforts to minimize the fallout from the Supreme Court’s reversal Roe v. Wade last month. A bill, the Women’s Health Protection Act, would enshrine its protections Roe v. Wade in law. The House had already approved the bill last year, but it failed to advance to a Senate vote in May. The House passed the bill, 219-210, prompting applause from Democrats in the chamber. All Republicans and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.) voted against the measure. Another bill, the Securing Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, would affirm the right for someone seeking an abortion to travel freely across state lines. The House passed that measure, 223-205, with three Republicans — Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Fred Upton (Mich.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (P.) — joining all Democrats in supporting the bill . Despite passing the Democratic-led House, the bills are almost certain to fail in the Senate, where they would require 60 votes or the suspension of philosophy rules and a simple majority. Both are unlikely in the face of Republican opposition. The House debate underscored the deep divide between the two parties, with Democrats warning that Republicans will impose further restrictions on women, including a national abortion ban, and Republicans insisting they are protectors of “unborn children.” “Neither do the courts Neither states nor politicians should have a say in women’s ability to make their own decisions about their health, their well-being and their future, which depends on their loved ones, their doctor and their God said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). .). “If we claim to love freedom, to be a free and just society, we must ensure that this basic human right is finally enshrined in law.” In further evidence of their opposition to the measure, Republicans falsely rebranded the legislation in their announcement as “Abortion on Demand up to Birth” — a mischaracterization of the bill — and repeated that claim on the House floor. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) called abortion “the human rights issue” of a generation. “Don’t close your ears. Don’t close your eyes. Don’t close your hearts, dehumanizing a life,” he said as the House debated the measure. “Come let’s come together. Let us protect the human rights of the unborn. We cannot deny life to the most disadvantaged and marginalized among us.” Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.); argued that the most marginalized would be affected if abortion rights were abolished. “My middle name is Blunt, so let me be clear about who will be hurt the most,” he said. “Poor women, young women, women in rural areas and women of color. People who may not be able to travel hundreds of miles to get the care they need.” Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Tex.), who represents a district that flipped a bit to Republicans with her recent special election win, said the bill doesn’t align with the values of voters in her district. “Protecting the voiceless must be a top priority in this House and in every corner of this country,” he said. “As a mother of four beautiful, strong children, I find it hard to believe that there are those who believe that pro-life is optional — even until the last month of pregnancy.” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) addressed Republicans directly during the debate, warning that the freedoms conservatives hold dear could be erased in the aftermath. “You’re trying to take away people’s right to travel,” he said. “What the hell is this? Is this America?’ “They are coming for me today. they are coming for you tomorrow,” the lawmaker added. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) pushed back against religious conservatives’ beliefs about the origin of life while expressing support for the legislation. “If you believe life begins at conception, don’t have an abortion,” she said Friday. “But that is your belief. It’s not science and others don’t share it.” “I don’t think anyone over here would ever force someone with your beliefs to have an abortion,” added the mother of two. “But you’re forcing your beliefs on others, and that’s wrong.” Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (DN.J.) argued that quick passage of the bill is necessary given Republican lawmakers’ long-term goals to ban the procedure nationwide — and the immediate impact conservative justices have had on abortion rights. “The court’s ideological decision ignored nearly 50 years of precedent and is the culmination of decades of relentless efforts by Republican politicians to control women and their bodies,” he said Friday. “Republicans have made that clear. This is just the beginning, pushing for a national abortion ban.” In May, Senate Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin III (DW.Va.) blocked the Women’s Health Protection Act, and on Thursday, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) blocked the Senate’s passage of a bill that would would protect travel across state lines for those seeking abortions, accusing Democrats of trying to “trigger, bring up the what-ifs.” Lankford’s comments came amid intense focus on the case of a 10-year-old Ohio girl who was raped and had to travel to Indiana to have an abortion because the procedures are now banned in Ohio after six weeks. Record shows Indiana doctor fulfilled duty to report 10-year-old girl’s abortion Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), co-sponsor of the Senate bill, pushed back against Lankford, saying “radical, anti-choice politicians” at the state level were already threatening to criminalize interstate travel for abortions — and that even the prospect of this legislation has had a chilling effect on abortion providers in states where the procedure remains legal. “There’s no doubt in my mind that some states will continue to move forward with this type of legislation,” Cortez Masto said. “This is a form of gaslighting to continue to insist that American women will be able to get care when we know that anti-choice lawmakers and groups are working to prevent them from doing so. What lawmakers across the country are doing to restrict women from traveling is blatantly unconstitutional.” Despite the bills’ doomed future, Democrats have been under pressure from their base to show they are doing everything possible to preserve abortion rights after the Supreme Court ruling. Abortion rights activists have already accused the White House of not doing enough — particularly since a draft Supreme Court ruling was leaked in early May. However, Pelosi defended the Biden administration’s response on Thursday. “I have no doubt about this administration’s support for a woman’s right to choose and to take the necessary steps to ensure that,” Pelosi told reporters. “This is something that is at the core of who we are. It’s about freedom. It’s about health care. It’s about respect for women. And that’s something the president is married to.” White House officials are reportedly debating internally whether to declare abortion access a public health emergency. President Biden has said he would support amending the Senate’s abortion rules to preserve abortion rights, while pushing pro-abortion-rights voters to make their feelings known at the ballot box, starting in November’s midterm elections . Pelosi echoed that sentiment Thursday, suggesting that only by electing more Democratic senators to override the filibuster could Congress pass legislation that “really affects a woman’s right to choose” — not just what she called measures “in half way”. “We’re not going to negotiate away a woman’s right to choose,” Pelosi said. “What will you negotiate? If a woman can have contraception? Is this a reason for negotiation? If people can have birth control? Yes or No? A little here. A little there. No.” Ahead of the House vote on Friday, Pelosi pledged that her party would continue to “fiercely defend freedom for women” during an event on the Capitol steps in which dozens of lawmakers wore green, which has become of the abortion rights movement. Pelosi said Democrats are sending a “hands off our reproductive health” message. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) announced that next week the House will vote on a bill to ensure access to contraception. “American women deserve to be able to make decisions about their bodies and their lives, including whether to get pregnant and have children,” Hoyer said in a statement. John Wagner contributed to this report.
