With the future of abortion rights grim, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has joined hundreds of other groups in asking the Senate to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act.
This historic piece of legislation would codify and protect the right to an abortion in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and U.S. territories. FFRF and more than 225 other organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, American Humanist Association, Guttmacher Institute, National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Center for Reproductive Rights and NARAL Pro-Choice America, have sent a letter to the Senate declaring that “reproductive rights are human rights.”
If the Women’s Health Protection Act becomes federal law, it would pre-empt state bans, make it a right for health care workers to provide abortion care, and guard against unnecessary state abortion restrictions that single out abortion and impede access to care. This legislation is needed more than ever.
“Control over when and whether to continue a pregnancy and become a parent is vital to any individual’s bodily autonomy and destiny,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “It is unthinkable that a cabal of religious lobbyists and theocratic public officials and judges has brought our nation to the brink of overturning Roe v. Wade. Action is needed now!”
FFRF has championed the Women’s Health Protection Act since it was introduced to Congress. The state/church watchdog submitted formal testimony last June in support of the act and has sent out numerous Action Alerts urging members to contact their legislators.
Thanks to the work of many activists, including FFRF members, the act passed the House. It is now in the Senate, where it faces the filibuster and a lot of resistance. That’s why it is so important that we make our secular voices heard. Call your senators and tell them to pass this important piece of abortion legislation.
The defense of abortion rights needs all of our persuasive skills — institutionally and individually.