The US House of Representatives passed two bills aimed at protecting abortion access across the US, the chamber’s first legislative attempts to bolster reproductive healthcare and secure abortion rights in the wake of the US Supreme Court decision to strike down Roe v Wade.
The votes on 15 July came exactly three weeks after the Supreme Court revoked a constitutional right to abortion care in a ruling with Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
The Women’s Health Protection Act – which would codify a right to abortion care – cleared the House for a second time by a vote of 219-210, with all but one Democratic members voting in support.
Republicans in the US Senate have repeatedly obstructed the bill’s introduction in the upper chamber.
Another bill, the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act, passed by a vote of 223-205, with only three Republicans joining all Demcorats voting in its favour.
That bill would protect the right of abortion patients who live in states that have outlawed or severely restricted care to travel to other states without risking prosecution or legal action in their home states.
The legislation also protects providers and others who help patients traveling out-of-state for their care.
The bill also shields interstate shipments of US Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs used for medication abortion – the most common form of abortion care, accounting for more than half of all abortions in the US.
Both bills will face enormous obstacles in the US Senate, where Republicans routinely filibuster Democratic-supported measures in the evenly divided chamber, without at least 10 Republican senators joining in support.
This is a developing story
