On Anniversary of Dobbs Ruling, Shaheen and Hassan Renew Legislation to Guarantee Women's Reproductive Rights

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) today joined a group of Senators to reintroduce the Women’s Health Protection Act. The legislation would guarantee a woman’s right to access an abortion—and the right of an abortion provider to deliver these services—free from medically unnecessary restrictions that interfere with a patient’s individual choice or the provider-patient relationship. The reintroduction of the Shaheen and Hassan-backed Women’s Health Protection Act falls on the three-year anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling that eliminated fifty years of precedent protecting abortion access. 

“In the three years since Roe v. Wade was reversed by the Supreme Court, we’ve seen Republican politicians jump at virtually every opportunity to undermine women’s reproductive freedoms. Let’s be very clear: No one—not a lawmaker or unelected jurist—should be able to control a woman’s decision on when or if to start a family,” said Senator Shaheen. “I’m helping reintroduce the Women’s Health Protection Act to enshrine the protections of Roe v. Wade into federal law—ensuring a woman’s ability to access reproductive care isn’t defined by the zip code she lives in.” 

“For the first time in our country’s history, our daughters are now less free than their mothers were at their age. The Dobbs decision represents the largest attack on women’s freedom in modern American political history, stripping away women’s fundamental freedom to make their own health decisions and chart their own futures,” said Senator Hassan. “The Women’s Health Protection Act would restore these essential freedoms and ensure that a woman’s right to lifesaving care doesn’t vanish when she crosses a state line.” 

Senator Shaheen is an unrelenting advocate for women’s reproductive rights. Earlier this year, Shaheen took to the Senate floor alongside her Democratic colleagues to oppose Senate Republicans’ latest effort to restrict access to reproductive health care, the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act, that would have significantly interfered with the doctor-patient relationship and posed unnecessary and harmful obstacles to a woman’s right to make her own decisions about her reproductive health.  For years, Shaheen has fought to expand coverage of women’s preventative care, including through her legislation to reduce the cost of contraception for servicewomen and dependents in military families. 

Senator Hassan has a record of standing up for reproductive freedom. Earlier this year, she spoke on the Senate floor to criticize the decision by the Senate’s Republican leadership to hold a vote on legislation to restrict a woman’s fundamental freedom to access reproductive health care instead of working in a bipartisan manner to lower the cost of living. In April, Senator Hassan met with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England leadership, health care providers, and community health leaders to hear directly about the impact of the Trump Administration’s decision to take away Title X federal funding for life-saving health care services – which include cancer screening, reproductive health care, and family planning services that Granite Staters count on. 

###