Protecting women's health

The Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade upholds the constitutional right to privacy, including in health care decisions and the right to access abortion care, and has been relied upon in this country for nearly 50 years, with nearly 7 in 10 Americans agreeing with the decision that established a person’s right to an abortion.



In 2020, the ROE Act was passed into law in the Commonwealth, abolishing unnecessary abortion restrictions and codifying the principles of reproductive freedom in Massachusetts state law. Over the last decade reproductive rights and freedom have been under attack across the nation and since 2011, anti-abortion lawmakers throughout the country have pushed nearly 500 restrictive laws through state legislatures to make abortion difficult and at times completely impossible to access.



On September 1, 2021, the Supreme Court denied an emergency request to block Texas S.B. 8, a six-week abortion ban that also provides a $10,000 reward for private citizens who sue their neighbors on suspicion of abetting abortion.



The Women’s Health Protection Act introduced by Representative Ayanna Pressley and Representative Judy Chu would fight back against these attacks on abortion access and codify the right for doctors to provide and patients to access abortion care free from medically unnecessary bans and restrictions.



The Council supports the Women’s Health Protection Act as the legislative solution to fight back against the calculated attacks on reproductive rights and freedom across the country. The Body calls on the House of Representatives and the United States Senate to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act without further delay and urges President Biden to swiftly sign the Women’s Health Protection Act into law and continue to use the full power of the Presidency to affirm reproductive rights and justice for all.