Ensuring Access to Abortion Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 8297, the Ensuring Women's Right to Reproductive Freedom Act.

The Supreme Court's disastrous decision in Dobbs to overturn Roe v. Wade has exacerbated what was an already dire crisis in abortion care access--one that threatens to undermine women's equality and health.

In the wake of the Dobbs decision, State legislatures across the country are moving to ban abortion outright. As if that wasn't draconian enough, some States are also passing laws targeting people who help others obtain an abortion. This includes the notorious Texas law, SB8, which permits any person to collect a $10,000 bounty by suing someone who ``aids or abets an abortion.''

Not content to strip women of their bodily autonomy and equality in their own States, some State legislatures are now contemplating efforts to inhibit the ability of women to travel out-of-state to obtain lawful healthcare, including by threatening their friends, families, or even employers with legal action.

H.R. 8297 would put State legislatures considering such laws on notice by providing additional Federal legal protections that reaffirm and enhance enforcement of the constitutional right to interstate travel, which includes travel to obtain legal healthcare services like an abortion.

This legislation is not enough. Many people, a disproportionate number from communities of color, do not have the option of traveling across State lines because they lack the resources to bear the costs of out-of-state travel, which include the related costs of childcare, lodging, or time off from work.

That is why it is essential that we also pass H.R. 8296, the Women's Health Protection Act of 2022, which would protect the right to abortion nationwide. The House has already passed this bill, but the Senate Republicans have twice blocked its passage. This is unacceptable. We must do everything we can to ensure protection of abortion access in a post-Roe world.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on both H.R. 8297 and H.R. 8296.

But this is not enough either. We face a radical Supreme Court deliberately packed with extremists by a plot by the Federalist Society, by Mitch McConnell, and by Donald Trump to pack the Supreme Court with extremists who have no regard for our liberties and who will destroy every liberty we have if we don't do something about it. That is why Congressman Johnson, Congressman Jones, Senator Markey, and I have introduced legislation to unpack the Supreme Court by increasing the number of Justices by four.

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