Today, the Senate of the United States took a historic vote to advance the Women’s Health Protection Act, which did not pass.
Board Chair of Physicians for Reproductive Health and ob/gyn in New Jersey Dr. Kristyn Brandi responds:
“Today, Senate leadership brought the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) up for a historic vote. This legislation is essential to protecting the ability of our patients to access essential abortion care. Although WHPA failed to advance today because of opponents of abortion in the Senate, we will continue advocating for protection of abortion at the federal and state levels. Our patients deserve access to this safe, essential health care.
The community need for abortion care will never stop.
“As a community of physicians, we’re devastated at the state of abortion access in the United States. As a provider of abortion care, I can’t emphasize enough the severity of the abortion access crisis we face. Our bodily autonomy and basic human and constitutional rights need to be protected, not removed. We are especially devastated for the communities we know will be most impacted by the continued attacks on abortion in the coming months: Black people, Brown people, people of color, LGBTQIA people, people with low incomes, people living in isolated areas, and people with disabilities.
“Patients should never be forced to leave their communities for safe, essential health care. And we know abortion is just that: safe, essential health care. The courts have failed to step in and halt Texas’ elimination of abortion for most patients, in clear defiance of the Constitution. We await a decision from the Supreme Court on a clearly unconstitutional ban on abortion after 15 weeks in Mississippi. But Roe v. Wade has always been the floor and not the ceiling – many patients have always had unequal access to care and this inequity is unacceptable.
“We are grateful that the Senate took this vote today and urge our leaders across the country to pass protections for abortion. The community need for abortion care will never stop. Our collective need to live our lives and get the health care we need will not stop. As providers, we will do everything we can to ensure that patients and families will get the care they need.”
