Presser Remarks | Floor Speech

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus’s Abortion Rights and Access Task Force, issued the following statement applauding the House passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), her legislation with Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) to establish a federally protected right to abortion access.

“Abortion care is a fundamental human right. For too long, the coordinated attacks by anti-abortion lawmakers have gone unchecked and have pushed abortion care out of reach for our most vulnerable, particularly our lowest income sisters, our queer, trans and non-binary siblings, and Black, brown, AAPI and Indigenous folks,” said Rep. Pressley. “With the Supreme Court proving time and again that it is no longer on the side of justice, I am proud that this Pro-Choice majority House acted diligently to pass our bill, the Women’s Health Protection Act, and move us one step closer to codifying the right to abortion care once and for all. I am grateful to the advocates and grassroots organizers who have mobilized for decades to make today possible, and I call on Leader Schumer and President Biden to quickly advance this bill in the Senate and sign it into law. Our work continues.”

Earlier today, she spoke at a press conference and delivered remarks on the House floor in which she urged her colleagues to support WHPA ahead of final passage on the House floor. Transcript of both sets of remarks are available here. 

Earlier this month, she issued a statement condemning the Supreme Court’s inaction on SB-8, Texas’ restrictive abortion law.

In June, Congresswoman Pressley, along with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and U.S. Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA), Lois Frankel (D-FL) and Veronica Escobar (D-TX), introduced the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), bicameral federal legislation to guarantee equal access to abortion care, everywhere. 

As Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus’s Abortion Rights and Access Task Force, Congresswoman Pressley has fought tirelessly to repeal the Hyde Amendment and protect comprehensive reproductive health care for all, including abortion care.

• Over the course of her first term serving in Congress, Congresswoman Pressley has filed amendments every year to repeal Hyde from annual Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bills and in July published a Medium post on the importance of doing so.
• In April, Rep. Pressley, along with Congresswomen Barbara Lee (CA-13), Diana DeGette (CO-01) and Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), led a group of 131 Democratic members in reintroducing the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act or the EACH Act, which would repeal the Hyde Amendment and ensure that all people, regardless of income, insurance or zip code, can make personal reproductive health care decisions without interference from politicians.
• In May 2020, she led more than 155 Members of Congress in calling on House Democratic leadership to ensure that any future COVID-19 relief packages rejected Republican efforts to use the public health crisis to diminish abortion access.
• In May 2019, she led more than 100 colleagues in introducing H.Con.Res.40, a resolution reaffirming the House of Representative’s support for Roe v. Wade. In June 2019, Rep. Pressley introduced H.R. 3296, the Affordability is Access Act, to make oral contraception available without a prescription. 
• In September 2016, as a member of the Boston City Council, Pressley championed a resolution calling on Congress and President Obama to repeal the Hyde Amendment and reinstate insurance coverage for abortion services.

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