After years of advocacy by organizations and activists, Rep. Jim Langevin committed to supporting federal legislation to eliminate medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion.
[Providence, RI] – Statement on Langevin’s co-sponsorship of the Women’s Health Protection Act(S. 1975/H.R. 3755):
“For YEARS we have been urging Rep. Jim Langevin to support the Women’s Health Protection Act. We have made it clear that Rhode Island voters believe abortion is a personal decision – and a right that must be protected. We have sent emails, made calls and met with his staff. We have made it very clear time and again that this is a bill that his constituents support and that is desperately needed to push back on the attacks on our ability to get an abortion when we need one and to make our own decisions about our healthcare, our families and our futures.
With the unrelenting attacks on access to abortion in recent years and the news out of Texaswhere a truly draconian ban is taking away access almost entirely from folks in that state and turning up the heat in the fight for abortion rights, The Womxn Project just did another BIG push asking him to do the right thing and as of this morning, Rep. Langevin has committed to co-sponsoring the WHPA and voting yes when it comes before Congress.
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The Women’s Health Protection Act protects the right to access abortion free from medically unnecessary restrictions and bans on abortion—including mandatory waiting periods, biased counseling, two-trip requirements, and mandatory ultrasounds.
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WHPA would create a statutory right for health care providers to provide abortion care, and a corresponding right for their patients to receive that care, free from medically unnecessary restrictions that single out abortion and impede access.
This is about equal opportunity, equal access to healthcare and the right to control our own bodies and futures. We are so thankful to Rep. Langevin for listening to the Rhode Islanders who have reached out to him over the years and the past few days to share their stories and to ask him to support the ability to make our own decisions based on our own beliefs with the support of the people we trust. We respect that for him this was something he struggled with and are deeply grateful that he heard us and he made a commitment to protecting the right to abortion.
Like the majority of Rhode Island voters, we know that abortion is a personal decision and critical healthcare that should be protected, not judged or taken away by medically unnecessary requirements that make it harder to seek or provide abortion. The people hurt most by abortion restrictions are those already facing barriers to accessing health care – Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), women, immigrants, young people and low-income families. It is way past time to do something about it!
We are grateful for Rep. Langevin and our congressional delegation’s commitment to supporting the WHPA. This bill is in line with Rhode Island values and it is simply the right thing to do!”
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“Abortion is a personal decision. It should NOT be taken away by medically unnecessary requirements. We are proud that the entire Rhode Island congressional delegation is taking a strong stand for our right to abortion. There is still work to do to ensure that people can afford care and get rid of other barriers, but the passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act would make a huge difference. It is time to pass this bill into law.” – Jocelyn Foye, Director, TWP
“I recognize that decisions about reproductive health are some of the most challenging and intimate choices women will make in their lives. In every vote I have taken on this matter, I have wrestled with these deeply personal issues. Today, it is clear that radicalism has overtaken nuance. Faced with the reality that Roe might no longer be the law of the land in a few months, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot support a reality where extremist state legislators can dictate women’s medical decisions. At the end of the day, we have to put our trust in women.” – Rep. Jim Langevin (opinion piece in the Providence Journal, September 9, 2021)