WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-5) joined Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8), Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-7), Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-3), and Rep. Veronica Escobar (TX-16), to reintroduce the Women’s Health Protection Act on the third anniversary of the Dobbs decision.  

On The Third Anniversary of Dobbs:

"Today is a reminder of how much suffering has been inflicted by Donald Trump and his Supreme Court. 

"Three years ago today, Trump’s right-wing Supreme Court eradicated half a century of progress. His judges declared that women’s health, our wellbeing, even our survival, all of it is secondary.

"What comes first is an ideology of control. Absolute control over if, when, and how to start a family.

"As we look forward to celebrating the Fourth of July and our fundamental freedoms as Americans, it is a painful contrast that young women today in our country have fewer rights than their grandmothers did. Doctors are being threatened with jail time for providing needed care. Patients are being denied lifesaving care. 35% of the counties in our country now are maternity care deserts.

"And, in states that have broad abortion bans, that number soars. In Georgia, for example, half of all counties don’t have a single obstetrician.

"And now, the GOP is going even further. Despite all the promises on the campaign trail we heard last year, Republicans are still not finished taking away health care from women in this country.

"Their Big, Ugly Bill will kick 16 million Americans off of health coverage. It will undo state laws that require insurance coverage for abortion care. It will shut down hospitals and clinics around this country — especially in rural communities. It will defund Planned Parenthood — which means it will defund cancer screenings, prenatal care, postpartum care, fertility treatments, and preventive care.

"And even this week on the House floor, the GOP will put up an appropriations bill that says to our active women in uniform and to our veterans, 'You cannot travel to get the care you need if it is not afforded to you where you are serving.'

"Republicans are choosing to make life harder, more expensive, and more dangerous for America’s 170 million women and girls. All to benefit 900 billionaires.

"Well, women are fighting back. House Democrats are fighting back. We’re fighting to save lives. And we’re fighting to uphold the right to control your own body and your own future. 

"We’re fighting to enact the Women’s Health Protection Act, a commonsense bill that restores reproductive freedom under the law, kicks politicians out of our doctors’ offices, and helps build an America that is truly worthy of our daughters."

On Republican Attacks Against Mifepristone: 

"They have been attacking science, and in particular Mifepristone, all along.

"What we have is a situation where they have said publicly, we're not pursuing a national abortion ban, which is exactly what they do every single day. And this is another step towards that goal.

"And we've seen it in the Big, Ugly Bill moving this week through the Senate, and we are seeing it now come up in the guise of a new 'report,' overturning a drug that has worked safely and effectively for decades."

On The Health Consequences of GOP Abortion Bans: 

"It's part of the crisis that we are seeing in the closing of labor and delivery rooms across the country. What we're seeing in OB/GYNs choosing not to practice because they're being asked to choose between their patients and possible criminal charges for doing their jobs. And we're seeing a steep decline in medical school applications to go into these fields.

"So as my colleague was speaking about being pro-life, how can you say you are pro-family when you are undermining the very doctors that ensure that women can safely deliver children? And we understand how difficult it is, it's why we're seeing the lack of obstetric care really soar in states that have abortion bans or very, very tight laws around abortions.

"And we are creating an impossible situation for women, that you are being forced to choose to have a child, then denied the health care to have that child safely. And the cruelty of this, beyond the the moral outrage of it, we can't blame doctors for saying this is too hard to practice. We have to show them our support by changing the laws.

"And as the Leader said, returning this decision to women, their families, in consultation with their doctors and their faith."

On Republicans’ Broader Anti-Freedom Agenda:

"I'll say this about my colleagues across the aisle: They don't hesitate to tell us exactly where they're going, and the Dobbs decision was a roadmap.

"So, the real concerns that I have heard over — whether it's same-sex marriage protections, the right to be able to have contraception in this country, and the right for IVF and other fertility treatments — is very much on the agenda.

"That is why this legislation is so very important. It is an important piece of saying that we are going to reassert that this is a constitutional right. And at the same time that they are attacking Mifepristone and other things while they are stripping away research into cancer, into fertility treatments, into Alzheimer's cures.

"Where does that leave the American family? It leaves them without hope. And again, it is cruelty by design. And the threats that are embedded in the Dobbs decision are as very real and as threatening as the actual removal of abortion rights."

On Republicans’ Refusal to Help Working Families:

"They clearly have no idea what it means to be pro-woman in this country, and that if we want healthy families, you start by addressing the affordability crisis.

"You start by saying, let's work on getting the price of housing down. Let's make sure that you have a good public school that you can attend. Let's make sure that your child and the birth of that child, 40% of which are covered by Medicaid, are insured, and that that birth of that child does not force you into medical bankruptcy. Let's make sure that you were able, if you were a veteran, to access your benefits.

"And if you've worked your whole life and deserve Social Security and Medicare, that you can get that, unlike this Big, Ugly Bill that is cutting Medicare by half a trillion dollars.

"So, then we start with the dismantling of women's health care and everything from cancer screenings that are given by Planned Parenthood, that they know full well 96% of all the services Planned Parenthood offers have nothing to do with abortion, but they are in underserved communities, and they are sometimes that only preventative health care a patient can access.

"So, on their desire to control women, we are just seeing them dismantle everything that leads, not only to success for women, but allows families to get on that first rung of the American Dream.

"And so, let's ask the question: When are they going to not only prioritize women and children, when are you going to work for the American people? And when did this become an operation here in Congress that is solely aimed at those who've already achieved great wealth and power, and kicking everyone else to the curb?"