WASHINGTON–One year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, co-sponsored a slate of legislation to protect reproductive rights, including the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act, the Right to Contraception Act, the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act, the Women’s Health Protection Act, and a Senate resolution expressing opposition to the use of state resources and power against Americans seeking reproductive healthcare, such as abortion services, contraception, and gender-affirming care.
“Overturning Roe v. Wade was just the tip of the iceberg, and we’ve watched as Republicans have launched an all-out assault on reproductive rights over the last year. Since the Dobbs decision, 25 states have passed laws to ban or restrict abortion, and some have even targeted birth control or tried prosecuting doctors practicing in states where abortion remains legal. Republicans won’t stop until they pass a nationwide abortion ban, and I will continue fighting to keep government out of women’s health care,” said Murphy.
“In the year since the devastating Dobbs decision, millions of women across the United States have been stripped of their most personal health care decisions and their power to control their own bodies. Doctors fear prosecution for doing their jobs, access to safe contraceptives continues to be threatened, and more and more women are forced to travel hundreds of miles to access health services. I authored the Women’s Health Protection Act more than ten years ago to protect Americans from the intrusions and restrictions we’re seeing today. That legislation, along with the other measures we’ve introduced, are essential to protecting Americans’ privacy and most fundamental rights. We’ll continue fighting until every woman in America has the right to make decisions about her own body and future,” said Blumenthal.
The Expanding Access to Family Planning Act would protect access to reproductive health care services—like birth control, cancer screenings and more—by providing a consistent and strong source of funding for the Title X Family Planning Program.
The Right to Contraception Act would enshrine into law the right to use birth control—which is under threat after Justice Clarence Thomas suggested the Supreme Court should reconsider its ruling in Griswold v. Connecticut.
The Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act would protect the rights of Americans to cross state lines to receive abortion care. The legislation would allow the Attorney General or impacted individuals to bring civil litigation against people restricting access to out-of-state reproductive care, including abortion services. It would also enhance protection from prosecution and lawsuits for providers of care to out-of-state patients.
The Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act would protect doctors and ensure that providers in states where abortion remains legal are protected from any efforts to restrict their practice or create uncertainty about their legal liability.
The Women’s Health Protection Act would guarantee equal access to abortion everywhere by overturning and halting medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion care that interfere with a patient’s individual choice or the provider-patient relationship.
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