Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) issued the following statement on the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade:

“Since the Dobbs decision, the health care crisis in Texas and around the country has only gotten worse,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.  “Women experiencing pregnancy complications like miscarriages are being turned away from hospital emergency rooms until they are ‘closer to death’ because of the extreme abortion ban Texas legislators have passed.  Cities and towns in Texas have passed ordinances blocking people from traveling on their roads with the purpose of seeking an abortion.  Doctors are afraid to treat women who need care out of fear of being sued or losing their medical license, and women are dying because of these draconian laws.

“These attacks on women’s health have generated fear and confusion for women and their loved ones, and it is critical that we find a way to protect them,” Congresswoman Fletcher continued.  “Access to abortion in Texas has been virtually eliminated—including in cases of rape or incest.  That is why this Congress, I reintroduced the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, which protects the constitutional right to travel across state lines, including for abortion.  Republicans in the House have refused to bring my bill to the floor to protect this constitutional right. 

“These policies are an assault on our freedoms, and we cannot let this happen in the United States of America,” concluded Congresswoman Fletcher.  “It is critical that Congress act and restore the framework to protect women’s rights to make their own decisions about their bodies, their families, and their futures that Americans relied on for the last 50 years.  I will continue doing everything I can to restore the health, privacy, dignity, and freedom of women in Texas and across our country.”

Congresswoman Fletcher is a leader in the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus and has led several efforts to protect access to abortion.  She is the lead House sponsor of the bill to protect the right to travel between states to obtain an abortion, the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, H.R. 782, which passed the House in the last Congress, and which she reintroduced last year. 

In response to a lawsuit seeking to ban medication abortion across the country, Congresswoman Fletcher introduced the Protecting Reproductive Freedom Act, H.R. 2573, with Congressman Pat Ryan (NY-18) to reaffirm that the abortion pill was appropriately approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  Last year, she met with Vice President Harris and Pro-Choice Caucus leaders to discuss ways to preserve, protect, and restore reproductive rights across the U.S.   

In January, she participated in a roundtable discussion with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to discuss ways to restore and protect reproductive health care. 

As efforts to undermine reproductive freedom have increased since Dobbs, including the temporary suspension of in vitro fertilization procedures in Alabama, Congresswoman Fletcher has continued pushing for the codification of women’s right to abortion.

Earlier this month, she took to the House floor urging the House to consider the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), H.R. 12, which establishes a statutory federal right to abortion free from medically unnecessary restrictions.  Congresswoman Fletcher is an original cosponsor of WHPA.