June 23, 2023

Chairman Aguilar: We can pass the Women’s Health Protection Act and codify the right to an abortion into law

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar joined Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA) author Judy Chu, Pro-Choice Caucus Co-Chairs Diana DeGette and Barbara Lee, Democratic Women's Caucus Chair Lois Frankel and other House Democrats to mark one year since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision and announce a discharge petition for the WHPA.

CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Thank you, Leader Jeffries and Whip Clark. We are grateful for the leadership of the Pro-Choice Caucus, the Democratic Women’s Caucus and, of course, Judy Chu, our author of this important piece of legislation, the Women’s Health Protection Act. It’s a privilege to be standing here in the room named after a champion of reproductive freedom, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. 

Today, House Democrats will be heading back to our communities. Some of our Members will return to states that have banned abortion in the last year. Their constituents live in fear of a miscarriage could result in their arrest. 

Children have to cross state lines to seek the care they need—care that had been established for the last 50 years as a basic right. But some will return home to states that have served as an oasis of reproductive freedom. 

People have come from all over the country to California to seek an abortion and they’ve come to the area that I represent and have been welcomed in California’s Inland Empire, in San Francisco, in Los Angeles and throughout the Golden State. 

But after what we’ve seen out of House Republicans over the last year—watching them go after contraception, go after abortion care and birth control. Make no mistake, they intend to ban abortion nationwide. We can stop this. With the help of so-called moderate Republicans, we can pass the Women’s Health Protection Act and codify this right into law. 

These Members are going to hear about this from their constituents and from us over this break and we hope that they return back to Washington ready to engage in bipartisan discussions.

Video of the full press conference can be viewed here.