Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) applauded the passage of H.R. 3755, the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA). Amid continued state-level assaults on Roe v. Wade and the right to choose, this legislation would ensure equal access to a full range of reproductive health care services for women across the country. Sewell was among the bill’s 176 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. The bill passed the House today by a vote of 218-211.

“The protections secured in Roe v. Wade are on the line,” said Rep. Sewell. “I believe that a woman’s reproductive choices should be between her and her doctor, not between her, her doctor, and her elected officials. Women everywhere must have access to a full range of reproductive health care services, which is why I’m proud to support the Women’s Health Protection Act.”

WHPA guarantees a pregnant person’s right to an abortion—and the right of an abortion provider to deliver these abortion services—free from medically unnecessary restrictions that interfere with a patient’s individual choice or the provider-patient relationship.

From Roe v. Wade in 1973 to Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt in 2016, the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized abortion as a constitutional right. However, anti-abortion advocates have worked for years at the state-level to pass laws meant to undermine or eliminate access to abortion care. In the last decade, state lawmakers have pushed through nearly 500 restrictive laws that make abortion difficult and, sometimes, impossible to access. Just this year, four states have passed bans on abortion at six weeks of pregnancy, before many people even know they’re pregnant. Lawmakers in Arkansas and Oklahoma attempted to ban abortion completely. WHPA would stop these attacks and ensure that abortion care first guaranteed under Roe is a reality for everyone, everywhere.

WHPA can be found here.