51 Years After Roe v. Wade, Pallone Vows to Fight to Codify Abortion Rights into Federal Law

PERTH AMBOY, NJ – Following the 51st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) called for federal protection of the right to full reproductive health care services, including abortion. Last week, House Republicans passed two extreme bills that would further subvert women’s reproductive rights by misleading, tricking, and shaming them at crisis pregnancy centers and by failing to address health care needs of pregnant students. 

The so-called Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act would divert vital federal dollars to anti-abortion centers masquerading as legitimate health care providers. Crisis pregnancy centers are deceptive organizations that seek to manipulate women during their pregnancy and prevent their ability to receive comprehensive reproductive care. The second bill, the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act, would require institutions of higher education that receive federal funding to provide information to students that focuses only on carrying a pregnancy to term, excluding information on contraception, abortion, pregnancy loss, and other reproductive health resources. 

“Since the ultra-conservative Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, extremist politicians continue to find ways to intervene between patients and their doctors to make reproductive health care decisions on their behalf. Republicans have made it clear that they will stop at nothing until they enact a nationwide abortion ban,” Pallone said. “We’ve already seen numerous reports of women forced to continue life-threatening pregnancies because doctors fear criminal prosecution for providing care as well as stories about doctors who are forced to leave their home states because they fear for their safety and are disheartened by undue political interference.House Democrats will not stop fighting until we codify the right to full reproductive health care, including abortion, into federal law.”

As Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee last Congress, Pallone led House passage of legislation to restore the right to abortion nationwide ensuring all Americans – regardless of where they live – can make their own decisions about their lives and their futures. The Women’s Health Protection Act would ensure that health care providers have a statutory right to provide abortion care and patients have a statutory right to receive that care, free from state bans and restrictions that are only intended to impede or block access. The Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act also passed the Democratic-controlled Congress two years ago. It would protect Americans from extremist Republican politicians and antiabortion groups by ensuring no person acting under state law can prevent, restrict, impede, or otherwise retaliate against a person traveling across state lines to obtain a lawful abortion.

“The fight to control our own bodies and health is far from over,” said Jackie Cornell, Executive Director, Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey. “There is too much at stake – threats to our reproductive freedom in Congress and across the country will impact New Jersey, despite the policy successes we've accomplished in the past two years. It's time for New Jerseyans to organize, to communicate, and to make their voices heard.”

“Every day, at Planned Parenthood of Northern, Central, and Southern New Jersey's 16 health centers across the state, my fellow providers and I do what we do best: welcome our patients with open arms, address their concerns, and provide a full range of high-quality reproductive health care services,” said Elizabeth Talmont, DNP, APN-BC. “Everyone deserves access to essential reproductive health services. Yet in too many states abortion bans and restrictions place politicians squarely in the middle of the provider-patient relationship, resulting in confusion, fear, and severe impacts to the health and lives of Americans.”

"Today, while we mourn the loss of Roe, we also recognize that protecting a legal right to abortion is just a first step and does not guarantee equitable access to care. As millions of people across the country are being stripped of their fundamental human right to make decisions about their lives and bodies, we call on elected leaders to take action at every level of government to ensure that abortion care is legal, accessible, and equitable for all who need it. Access to abortion care is a racial and economic justice imperative,” said Sarah Fajardo, Policy Director, American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. 

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Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey (PPAFNJ) is a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) non-profit social welfare organization, and the advocacy arm of the Planned Parenthood affiliates in New Jersey. We advocate for access to essential health care through education, activism, voter engagement, grassroots organizing and legislative advocacy. For more information, visit www.ppactionnj.org.