[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 555 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 555

  Recognizing the importance of intersectionality for abortion access.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 23, 2023

Mrs. Watson Coleman (for herself, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, and Ms. Clarke 
of New York) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                  the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing the importance of intersectionality for abortion access.

Whereas 1 in 4 women in the United States will have an abortion before the age 
        of 45;
Whereas approximately 22 million women and girls of reproductive age live in 
        States where abortion is heavily restricted;
Whereas over 1 in 3 women, plus more trans and nonbinary people, have lost 
        access to abortion in their home States;
Whereas the most common reason to end a pregnancy is due to potential 
        interference with education, work, or the ability to care for 
        dependents;
Whereas nearly 50 percent of abortion patients have incomes below the poverty 
        level;
Whereas women living in poverty have a rate of unintended pregnancy that is five 
        times higher than those with middle-class or upper-class incomes;
Whereas unintended pregnancy remains the most common among poor women, women of 
        color, and women without a high school education;
Whereas Black women are twice as likely to have an unintended pregnancy than 
        White women;
Whereas Black women account for 38 percent of all abortions;
Whereas Black women founded the Reproductive Justice movement in 1994 to address 
        the lack of intersectionality and racial justice in the existing 
        abortion rights movement;
Whereas Black women are almost three times more likely than White women in the 
        United States to die from childbirth;
Whereas the risk of dying in childbirth is 14 times higher than the risk of 
        dying from a safe abortion;
Whereas the impacts of maternal mortality and increasing abortion restrictions 
        are closely related to each other and both rooted in persistent 
        structural racism and sexism;
Whereas LGBTQI+ individuals experience major disparities in abortion and 
        reproductive care;
Whereas an estimated 16 percent of individuals having abortions do not identify 
        as heterosexual women;
Whereas several hundred transgender and nonbinary individuals obtain abortions 
        annually at facilities that do not provide gender-affirming health care;
Whereas abortion care and gender affirming care are both fundamental to the 
        bodily autonomy of LGBTQI+ individuals;
Whereas the banning and restriction of abortion around the country has created 
        abortion-provider deserts, where some providers can only offer 
        medication abortion rather than both medication and surgical abortions;
Whereas medication abortion is the most common form of pregnancy termination and 
        accounts for more than half of all abortions in the United States and 
        increased access to abortions;
Whereas medication abortion is under threat by antiabortion advocates utilizing 
        junk science; and
Whereas decisions from the Supreme Court and Federal district courts are 
        threatening to the availability of abortions: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes that women of lower socioeconomic standing 
        face the greatest risk when abortion is restricted;
            (2) acknowledges that women of racial and ethnic minorities 
        and particularly Black women are at highest risk when abortion 
        is restricted;
            (3) acknowledges that surgical and medication abortions are 
        safe and any developments in science that affect abortion care 
        should be reviewed by scientific and medical experts; and
            (4) calls upon the Federal Government to protect the right 
        to abortion across the country.
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