[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1411 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1411

   Recognizing July 2024 as the 30th anniversary of the reproductive 
justice movement to raise awareness around the history of reproductive 
justice and honor the foremothers of the reproductive justice movement, 
build a world in which Black girls and gender expansive people, as well 
as all Americans marginalized by their race, class, or gender, are free 
  from systems of reproductive oppression of their bodies, sexuality, 
                        labor, and reproduction.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 6, 2024

Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Ms. DeGette, Ms. Wilson of Florida, 
    Ms. Underwood, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, and Mr. Evans) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
  Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Recognizing July 2024 as the 30th anniversary of the reproductive 
justice movement to raise awareness around the history of reproductive 
justice and honor the foremothers of the reproductive justice movement, 
build a world in which Black girls and gender expansive people, as well 
as all Americans marginalized by their race, class, or gender, are free 
  from systems of reproductive oppression of their bodies, sexuality, 
                        labor, and reproduction.

Whereas, 30 years ago, in 1994, a trailblazing group of Black women came 
        together to advance a health agenda centered on the unique concerns and 
        lived experiences of women and girls of color, especially Black women 
        and girls, who faced longstanding health disparities, including higher 
        rates of infant and maternal mortality and morbidity, breast cancer, 
        fibroids, gender-based violence, and HIV/AIDS;
Whereas they coined this vision to be ``reproductive justice'', building on 
        concepts of reproductive rights, social justice, and human rights as a 
        way of centering the specific lived experiences of Black women;
Whereas reproductive justice offers a human rights framework that affirms the 
        right to not have a child, the right to have a child, the right to the 
        social and economic supports to parent one's children, free from 
        violence, and the right to bodily autonomy and sexual expression;
Whereas the foremothers of the reproductive justice movement helped the Nation 
        to understand that Black women know what it means to lead communities 
        and lead movements, while struggling for basic equality, social justice, 
        and human rights;
Whereas reproductive justice seeks to address bans and restrictions on 
        reproductive health, including abortion, that have perpetuated systems 
        of oppression, lack of bodily autonomy, White supremacy, and anti-Black 
        racism, all rooted in systems resulting the enslavement, rape, and 
        experimentation of Black people, forced sterilizations, medical 
        experimentation on low-income women's reproductive systems, and the 
        forcible removal of indigenous children;
Whereas Black women and gender expansive Black people are three times more 
        likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women in the 
        United States;
Whereas studies show that when Black women suffer from severe injuries or 
        pregnancy complications or simply ask for assistance, they are often 
        dismissed or ignored in the health care settings that are supposed to 
        care for them;
Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States upended nearly 50 years of its 
        own precedent and issued a majority opinion in Dobbs v. Women's Health 
        Organization that overturned the constitutional right to abortion care 
        enshrined by Roe v. Wade and continues to disproportionately impact 
        Black women and girls, who are more likely to lack economic resources, 
        to be unemployed and uninsured, and to be insured by programs that 
        restrict coverage for abortion care;
Whereas the Black LGBTQIA+ community experiences disproportionate levels of 
        homelessness, poverty, and unemployment and a crisis of violence against 
        Black transgender women and girls;
Whereas, too often, Black families lack access to jobs with a living wage, safe 
        and secure housing, accessible transportation, and affordable, healthy 
        food;
Whereas Black families bear the brunt of environmental injustices like air and 
        water pollution, which worsen health outcomes, and the burden of law 
        enforcement officials operating with unfair and unjust biases, which can 
        be fatal; and
Whereas Black women are the largest voting constituency in the United States 
        electorate: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) honors the 30th anniversary of the founding of the 
        reproductive justice movement;
            (2) acknowledges a history of institutional racism, 
        inhumanity, and inequality of access to information, services, 
        and supports, especially for Black women, girls, and LGTBQI+ 
        individuals, and recognizes that the mission of reproductive 
        justice can help to continue to remedy this history, as we 
        fight to fully realize the promise of these United States;
            (3) acknowledges the right to bodily autonomy rooted in the 
        ``liberty doctrine'' of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, 
        established during the Reconstruction era to ensure all 
        Americans, including enslaved Americans--Black Americans--had a 
        fundamental right to life, liberty, and property, free from 
        forced labor, forced abortion, and forced pregnancy;
            (4) supports the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in 
        Healthcare (EACH) Act's policies of repealing the Hyde 
        Amendment to guarantee abortion coverage regardless of a 
        patient's health insurance status or ZIP Code;
            (5) supports the American Rescue Plan's policies to address 
        racial disparities in maternal and child health outcomes and 
        give States the option to provide a full year of postpartum 
        coverage to women on Medicaid, increasing it from just 60 days 
        previously;
            (6) recognizes a long history of reproductive injustice 
        fueled by systemic racism and bias;
            (7) supports a whole-of-government approach to make even 
        progress in reproductive health inequities, including through 
        the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health 
        Crisis;
            (8) supports the ability to parent one's child in a safe 
        and secure environment, with all necessary socioeconomic 
        support and without any form of violence;
            (9) encourages public officials, educators, librarians, 
        public health officers, health care workers, and all the people 
        of the United States to raise awareness around the history of 
        reproductive justice and observe this anniversary;
            (10) commits to advancing policy that will build a world in 
        which Black girls and gender expansive people, as well as all 
        Americans marginalized by their race, class, or gender, are 
        free from systems of reproductive oppression of their bodies, 
        sexuality, labor, and reproduction;
            (11) affirms that voting rights is a reproductive justice 
        issue, and access to the ballot box is central to protecting 
        reproductive health, rights, and justice in localities and 
        States across the country; and
            (12) recognizes that reproductive justice calls on 
        governments and society to ensure conditions exist for each 
        individual in the United States and across the world to realize 
        reproductive justice values.
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