Since the Supreme Court determined in 1974 that abortion is constitutionally protected there has been a continued campaign to ban or severely limit access to safe abortion services. Some of the most recent and prominent include the Texas abortion ban that began implementation in September and which the Supreme Court declined to halt the implementation of. The Supreme Court will also move forward this year with consideration of June Medical Services v. Russo, a case that is another direct challenge to Roe V. Wade and abortion access in the United States.
In order to directly address these challenges Congress needs to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act which bars state and local abortion restrictions.
The United Church of Christ General Synod has over the past 40 years affirmed an individual’s agency to follow their personal religious and moral convictions in consultation with their family and medical care team about whether or not to complete or terminate a pregnancy. It has also lifted up the importance of ensuring full access to the full range of reproductive health care services regardless of economic circumstances. These ongoing battles call for a faithful and strong response affirming an individual’s self-determination for their own body.
With the most conservative Supreme Court in decades many states are challenging abortion access and severely restricting access to reproductive care for individuals with the aim of overturning Roe V. Wade. This creates a dangerous environment where the full spectrum of reproductive services is challenged, including birth control access and health screenings. Historically economically marginalized populations including Black communities, people of color and low income communities are placed in greater harm because they have diminished access to reproductive healthcare.
The Women’s Health Protection Act is a critically needed bill that will enact protections on the federal level to safeguard access to high-quality care and to secure constitutional rights by protecting patients and providers from political or religious interference. It would bar state and federal legislation that imposes medically unnecessary regulations on access to abortion services including medication, mandatory waiting periods, or out and out abortion bans.
As a justice-seeking people, we cannot remain silent while state laws transform us into a map of “haves and have-nots” with regard to access to reproductive health services. Protecting access to the full range of reproductive health care for all – including safe, legal abortion – is an imperative rooted in our deeply-held faith beliefs in social justice, moral agency, and religious liberty for all. Please contact your member of Congress to support passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act so any person is able to make their own medical decisions based on their values and with the consultation of their medical team, and without barriers imposed by economic status, employment status, or zip code.