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Another week, another flurry of anti-abortion bills on House floor
This week, Speaker Johnson and anti-choice extremists are pushing two more anti-abortion measures onto the House floor, continuing their march towards a total, national abortion ban. These measures would use federal funds to spread misinformation and prevent vulnerable communities from seeking essential health care.
Even Johnson’s most vulnerable members are backing the efforts. Just last week, Michelle Steel signed on to national legislation banning abortion – without exceptions – after the New York Times questioned her commitment to ban abortion.
House Republicans are doing everything they can to restrict abortion access.
DCCC Spokesperson Viet Shelton:
“Despite all evidence to the contrary, House Republicans continue to delusionally believe that their attack on reproductive freedoms is popular. Instead of respecting the will of voters, Republicans continue looking for new ways to pursue their dangerous anti-abortion agenda while attempting to hide their attacks from voters. This disingenuous, cynical strategy will cost them the House majority come November.”
Read more from the New York Times on House Republicans’ latest efforts to attack reproductive freedoms:
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In 2021, Representative Michelle Steel, a California Republican whose district President Biden won in 2020, cosponsored the Life at Conception Act, a bill to recognize a fertilized egg as a person with equal protections under the 14th Amendment.
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By last year, when House Republicans introduced identical legislation, the landscape had changed considerably. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe, setting off a race by many states to impose severe restrictions, and abortion bans became a politically toxic issue for Republicans in elections across the country.
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Ms. Steel waited nearly a year to sign on — doing so on Friday morning, only after her Democratic challenger criticized her for flip-flopping on the issue for political gain and The New York Times notified her of a story documenting her change in position.
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About 69 percent of voters think abortion should be legal in the first three months of pregnancy, according to a recent Gallup poll, a record high.
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Two House committees began considering a measure entitled the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act, which would require colleges and universities to distribute information about the rights, accommodations and resources available to pregnant students.
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Abortion rights advocacy organizations condemned the bill in a letter to members of Congress as “a thinly veiled anti-abortion law which would not address the key barriers to pregnant students’ educational attainment.” They argue the proposed bill seeks to limit pregnant students’ health care options by omitting abortion on the list of rights and services that it would require be made available to them.
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