Rep. Chu Renews Call for Reproductive Rights a Year after Roe’s Reversal

Congresswoman Judy Chu | Official U.S. House headshot

By Verdugos News Report

Jun 28, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On June 24, 2023 marks one year since the Supreme Court issued the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, which overturned the 50-year precedent in Roe v. Wade of a nationwide, constitutional right to abortion care.

Nationwide, over a dozen states now have bans or near bans on abortion. Around one out of three women in America have lost access to abortion in their home states. Average travel time to abortion clinics has tripled. Women who are undergoing a miscarriage cannot obtain an abortion. Health complications and maternal mortality are increasing in places where abortions are banned.

Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28), the author of H.R. 12, the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), issued the following statement:

“To reach real equality for all, America should be a nation of reproductive freedom where everyone has access to abortion care. Before Dobbs, anti-abortion extremists methodically worked for decades to impose state by state bans on abortion, and they captured the Supreme Court to help make this nation one of forced birth. Their efforts paid off. Because of the Court’s Dobbs decision, young women in America have fewer reproductive rights than their grandmothers did, and a public health crisis persists across gigantic swaths of our country. This anti-freedom Court now faces a crisis of legitimacy unlike any in our lifetime. Further, extreme MAGA Republicans in Congress continue pressing for a national abortion ban.

“But we are not powerless to support women in need of abortion care across the country, and there is a clear path legislative path forward. My Women’s Health Protection Act, if passed by Congress and signed by the President, would finally enshrine abortion rights into federal law and protect patients and providers from state-level bans and restrictions that impede access. I will never back down in this fight until abortion care is available to everyone in every zip code in America, regardless of circumstance or income.”

Since the Dobbs decision, Rep. Chu has undertaken the following actions to restore and strengthen reproductive rights:

June 30, 2022: While attending a peaceful rally on Supreme Court grounds to protest the Dobbs decision, Rep. Chu and 180 other activists are arrested.
July 13, 2022: Rep. Chu leads 126 colleagues in writing to House and Senate leadership to include robust emergency funding for the Title X Family Planning Program, the only federal program dedicated to providing family planning services for people with low incomes, in must-pass legislation.
July 15, 2022: Rep. Chu’s WHPA passes the House of Representatives for the second time, along with legislation protecting the right to travel for abortion care. A press conference follows.
July 21, 2022: the Right to Contraception Act, which Rep. Chu cosponsored, passes the House.
August 26, 2022: Rep. Chu meets with providers and advocates to discuss the impact of the Dobbs decision.
October 28, 2022: Rep. Chu holds a roundtable in Pasadena, CA, on the future of reproductive rights.
January 9, 2023: Rep. Chu’s offers WHPA as the substitute to House Republican leadership’s rules package, making it House Democrats first action of the 118th Congress.
March 24, 2023: Rep. Chu leads 148 colleagues in writing to House Appropriations leadership to increase funding for Title X to $512 million for FY 2024.
March 30, 2023: Rep. Chu leads 207 colleagues to introduce WHPA as H.R. 12 in the 118th Congress.
April 28, 2023: With no Republican-led House Committee hearings held on the state of the impacts of the Dobbs decision, Rep. Chu joins Democratic Women’s Caucus and Pro Choice Caucus leadership to lead a shadow hearing on the state of a post-Roe America.
June 15, 2023: Rep. Chu and Rep. Dan Goldman (NY-10) lead 52 colleagues in pressing Walmart, Costco, Safeway, Kroger, and HealthMart on their plans to certify dispersing the abortion medication mifepristone.
June 21, 2023: Rep. Chu and Pro-Choice Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Diana DeGetter (CO-01) and Barbara Lee (CA-12) lead 211 of their colleagues to sign a discharge petition on WHPA, thereby bypassing Speaker Kevin McCarthy and forcing a vote on the measure.
June 24, 2023: Rep. Chu hosts a discussion with abortion providers about the dangers and opportunities ahead to strengthen reproductive rights.