Pressley seeks to decriminalize abortion through new legislation

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) on Thursday introduced new abortion legislation to protect patients and providers from criminalization by making care more readily accessible and removing systemic barriers to it, as well as calling for federal investments in abortion care.

The Abortion Justice Act comes at the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing the right to an abortion. 

The bill calls for coverage of travel and accrued costs, such as lost wages, and boosts federal spending in abortion training, research, outreach and doula care.

“This week marks one year since the Supreme Court overturned the will of the people and obliterated the right to abortion care across our nation,” Pressley, chairwoman of the Pro-Choice Caucus’ Abortion Rights and Access Task Force, told reporters ahead of introducing the legislation. 

“Since that day, coordinated attacks on our reproductive health care have continued, and it’s been escalated with devastating results,” Pressley added. “Our bill is practical. It’s technical. It’s also forward facing and aspirational, unapologetically.”

Fourteen states now outlaw abortion, with 11 having bans without exceptions for rape or incest. Another six states have banned abortions after a specific gestational limit, ranging from six weeks to 20 weeks. 

Penalties for abortions in these states vary for patients and medical providers. Consequences include paying hefty fines or the suspension of a medical license.

In South Carolina, people who end a pregnancy could face up to two years in prison and be fined up to $1,000. 

One of the harshest punishments comes from a Texas trigger ban, which would punish anyone who performs, induces or attempts an abortion where “an unborn child dies as a result of the offense.” The sentencing could see the guilty party receive life in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

Other attempts to criminalize the procedure have failed: In 2022, legislation in Louisiana that would classify abortions as homicide — a crime punishable by the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole — was withdrawn from consideration.

But these laws haven’t stopped pregnant people from seeking abortions. 

Between July and December 2022, some 66,510 people were unable to receive a legal abortion in their home state, according to FiveThirtyEight. An estimated 35,330 appear to have traveled to a different state to obtain an abortion. Places like Illinois, which has no gestational limits, saw a dramatic increase in patients seeking an abortion as out-of-staters traveled to the Land of Lincoln for the procedure.

“We have seen the devastating consequences in [Dobbs’s] aftermath,” said Morgan Hopkins, president of All* Above All. “Restrictions like insurance coverage bans, medication abortion bans and inhumane policies targeting immigrants pushed abortion care out of reach even when it was legal nationwide.”

“We know that the harm of this crisis falls hardest on people working to make ends meet who are more likely to be people of color,” Hopkins added. “Young people, LGBTQ people, gender non-conforming folks and immigrants’ fundamental rights are at stake.”

Women of color have been disproportionately affected by the overturning of Roe. In addition to Black women already having worse health outcomes due to racism in the health care system, they are also more likely to have lower incomes and lack insurance access to quality health care.

With a lack of quality health care, including contraceptive access, Black women also seek abortions at higher rates, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Black women are five times more likely to have abortions than white women, in part because of worse maternity health outcomes both during and post-pregnancy.

The CDC also finds that Black birthing people are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts, and Black infants are twice as likely to die within their first year compared to white infants. But 84 percent of maternal deaths are preventable, according to the CDC Maternal Mortality Review Committee’s September report. 

Many in Congress have been fighting to pass legislation to tackle these disparities, including the Black Maternal Health Caucus, of which Pressley is a member. 

The caucus has introduced a 12-piece package designed to improve pregnancy and birthing outcomes for all women, with a strong focus on Black birthing people and people of color, but so far only the Protecting Moms Who Served Act has been signed into law by President Biden.

Pressley said this week the Abortion Justice Act was crafted in partnership with others “who understand that this is a matter of life and death when you are talking about the prospect of a nation of forced birth.”

“Given that we still have much work to do when it comes to maternal justice, and Black women and birthing people being able to give birth safely as a right and not a privilege, we were very intentional on the crafting of this was something that was inclusive and intersectional,” Pressley said. “The Abortion Justice Act is ultimately about making sure that everyone is free to make decisions about their lives, their bodies, their futures with dignity, with the decision to pursue abortion care without fear without shame.”