FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2022
Contact: William Lutz | lutz@iwpr.org | (202) 684-7534
Statement of Dr. C Nicole Mason, President and CEO, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Washington, D.C. — Today, the House of Representatives passed two bills to protect women’s access to abortion services after the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade. The first, the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), guarantees women’s access to abortion services and protects that right against restrictions and bans in every state. The second, the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act (H.R. 8297), secures a woman’s right to travel to obtain abortion services in other states.
“Reproductive freedom and autonomy are integral to the economic security and well-being of women and families. We must not concede or turn away from our work to protect women’s access to reproductive health services in this moment and I applaud the House for taking the bold steps it took today,” said Dr. C Nicole Mason, President and CEO, IWPR.
“It’s been only a few weeks, but we are already seeing women in forced birth states scrambling to access abortion services. And we’re seeing threats at the state level to restrict women’s travel to keep them from seeking services elsewhere. We need the Senate to pass WHPA and the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act so women across the country can access abortion care regardless of where they live despite states’ work to strip that access away,” said Kate Ryan, Vice President of Policy and Strategic Initiatives at IWPR.
“I am hopeful that now that we are all witnessing firsthand the gender oppression that was always going to follow Roe’s overturn, members of Congress will stand with American women and protect their basic reproductive freedoms,” added Mason.
Last year, IWPR released game-changing research detailing the cost of abortion bans and other reproductive health restrictions on state economies. That research estimates that, at the national level, state-level abortion restrictions cost local economies $105 billion USD per year by reducing labor force participation and earnings levels and increasing turnover and time off from work among women ages 15 to 44 years. A state-by-state breakdown of this data is available here.
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research strives to win economic equity for all women and eliminate barriers to their full participation in society. As a leading national think tank, IWPR builds evidence to shape policies that grow women’s power and influence, close inequality gaps, and improve the economic well-being of families. Learn more at IWPR.org and follow us on Twitter.
