March 21, 2025
Mrs. Sykes (for herself, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Auchincloss, Ms. Balint, Ms. Barragán, Mr. Bell, Mr. Beyer, Ms. Brown, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Budzinski, Mr. Carson, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cisneros, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Craig, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms. DeGette, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Elfreth, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Foster, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Ms. Friedman, Mr. Frost, Mr. Garcia of California, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Gottheimer, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Horsford, Mr. Huffman, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Kennedy of New York, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Landsman, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Lee of Nevada, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Mr. Magaziner, Ms. McBride, Mrs. McClain Delaney, Mr. McGovern, Mrs. McIver, Ms. McClellan, Ms. Ansari, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Meng, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Norton, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Peters, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Pressley, Mr. Quigley, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Ross, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Stanton, Ms. Stevens, Ms. Strickland, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Swalwell, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Tonko, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Tran, Ms. Underwood, Mr. Vasquez, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Williams of Georgia, and Ms. Clark of Massachusetts) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that every person has the basic right to emergency health care, including abortion care.
Whereas bans and restrictions on reproductive health care, including abortion care, put the health and lives of pregnant people at risk;
Whereas State laws that purport to ban and restrict abortion in emergency circumstances force medical providers to decide between withholding necessary, stabilizing medical care from a patient experiencing a medical emergency or face criminal prosecution put the life, health, and future of pregnant people at risk;
Whereas the harms of criminalizing medical providers providing emergency health care or patients receiving emergency health care are far reaching and providers and patients who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, immigrants, people with low incomes, and LGBTQI+ individuals are more likely to be put under the scrutiny of the legal system;
Whereas, every person, including every pregnant person, should be able to access emergency health care at an emergency department without discrimination;
Whereas delays and denials of emergency care, for any reason, risk the health and lives of patients;
Whereas the harms associated with abortion bans and other restrictions on reproductive health care have a disproportionate impact on patients of color, specifically Black and Indigenous pregnant patients, who are more likely to experience life-threatening pregnancy complications;
Whereas the chaos and confusion caused by abortion bans and restrictions can dissuade providers from providing appropriate medical care to patients when they need it the most, including in emergency care situations such as heart failure or high blood pressure which can be caused by a previous pregnancy, premature rupture of membranes, severe obstetric hemorrhage or infection, placenta previa where the placenta attaches to the cervix, and in some cases missed miscarriages, among many other emergency medical conditions; and
Whereas, every person has the basic right, and is entitled by law, to the emergency care they need to protect their health and lives, including abortion care: Now, therefore, be it
That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that every person has the basic right to emergency health care, including abortion care.