September 22, 2022

Warren Opens Investigation to Examine How Republicans’ Radical National Abortion Ban Proposal Would Affect Women’s Access to Health Care

Investigation Follows Senate Republicans’ Introduction of Radical Proposal to Ban Abortions After 15 Weeks

Warren Seeks Information From 5 Leading Health Care Provider Organizations

“In the weeks since the Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, women… have been denied critical pregnancy care, reproductive care, and non-reproductive health care as a result of vague and draconian state laws criminalizing choice…The stories are shocking and horrific – and would be even worse in the wake of a national ban on abortion.”

Text of Letters (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – Following Senate Republicans’ introduction of a radical proposal to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks and the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) opened an investigation into how this proposal would impact women’s access to critical pregnancy care, reproductive care, and other types of essential health care. Senator Warren sent letters to 5 leading health care organizations representing physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care providers – the American Medical Association, Physicians for Reproductive Health, National Nurses United, the American Pharmacists Association, and the American Hospital Association – to gather more information about how this radical proposal would affect access to health care. 

“The effects of abortion restrictions extend far beyond abortion care itself. In the weeks since the Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, women in states like Texas, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee have been denied critical pregnancy care, reproductive care, and non-reproductive health care as a result of vague and draconian state laws criminalizing choice. And providers have been put into impossible situations, potentially facing severe civil and criminal penalties for offering medically necessary care to their patients. The stories are shocking and horrific – and would be even worse in the wake of a national ban on abortion.,” wrote Senator Warren. 

Last week, Senate Republicans introduced radical legislation to ban all abortions nationwide after 15 weeks, with only limited exceptions. “(The legislation) strip(s) women of the right to make decisions about their own bodies and criminaliz(es) providers of crucial reproductive health care – and allow(s) states to impose even more stringent and cruel abolitions,” continued the senator. 

Senator Warren is asking each health care organization to assist in her investigation to understand how a national abortion ban could impact access to health care, including pregnancy care (such as care for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies), reproductive care (such as emergency contraception and fertility services), and any other form of health care. She is requesting each organization respond to a set of questions about how a radical abortion ban would affect patients and health care providers by September 30, 2022. 

Last month, Senator Warren sent letters to the health care organizations in August 2022, investigating how state-sponsored abortion restrictions would affect patients and providers. 

As reproductive health care is under attack from extremist politicians in Congress and state legislatures, and the radical Supreme Court, Senator Warren has called on the government to use every tool to protect access to fundamental health care and reproductive freedom:

  • On September 20, 2022, Senator Warren led six senators in a letter to Heartbeat International, an anti-abortion organization that supports thousands of crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) across the country, calling on the organization to answer a series of questions about its collection and use of women’s personal data, including sensitive health care information.
  • On August 5, 2022, Senator Warren spoke on the floor of the Senate about the need to crack down on the deceptive and misleading practices employed by many crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). Senator Warren also spoke on the need to bring the Stop Anti-Abortion Disinformation Act up for a vote. The legislation would direct the Federal Trade Commission to prohibit deceptive or misleading advertising that many CPCs use to dissuade patients from getting the reproductive care they need, including abortion care. 
  • On August 4, 2022, Senators Warren, Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), outlining concrete actions HHS can take to help meet President Biden’s goal of protecting and expanding access to medication abortion.
  • On July 29, 2022 Senators Warren and Hirono led 23 senators to urge the Department of Veterans Affairs to immediate administrative action to offer abortions and all abortion-related services to veterans and eligible dependents. The Department heeded their calls and announced on September 2, 2022, that they would offer abortion services in certain instances. 
  • On July 21, 2022, Senators Warren and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent letters to Bark Technologies, Gaggle.net, GoGuardian, and Securly Inc., raising concerns that the software these companies use to monitor students’ online activity could be used to criminalize or punish students who are seeking information about abortion services and reproductive health care.
  • On July 19, 2022, Senators Warren, Murray, and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) led a group of their Democratic colleagues in introducing the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act, a bill to protect access to critical reproductive health care services—like birth control, cancer screenings, and more—by providing a consistent and strong source of funding for the Title X Family Planning Program.
  • On July 14, 2022 Senators Warren, Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and over a dozen other Senate Democrats wrote to President Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, urging them to immediately declare national and public health emergencies over Americans’ access to reproductive care.
  • On July 7, 2022, Senators Warren and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) sent letters to Facebook and Instagram, calling on them to address their reported censorship of posts related to abortion services, following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last month.
  • On July 7, 2022, Senator Warren announced two key data brokers’ commitments to permanently stop selling the location data of people seeking abortion services.
  • On June 23, 2022, Senators Warren and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) introduced the Stop Anti-Abortion Disinformation Act, legislation that would crack down on false advertising that crisis pregnancy centers employ to dissuade patients from getting the reproductive care they need, including abortion care. 
  • On June 22, 2022, following the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Senators Warren and Smith wrote an op-ed in the New York Times laying out the next steps in the fight to protect the right to an abortion, including calling for the declaration of a public health emergency.
  • On June 15, 2022, Senator Warren introduced the Health and Location Data Protection Act, legislation that bans data brokers from selling some of the most sensitive data available about everyday Americans: their health and location data. 
  • On June 7, 2022, Senators Warren and Murray led 23 of their Senate colleagues in a letter to President Biden urging him to immediately issue an executive order directing the federal government to develop a national plan to defend Americans’ fundamental reproductive rights, including their right to an abortion.
  • On May 17, 2022, Senator Warren led thirteen of her Senate colleagues in letters to two data brokers demanding answers regarding their collection and sale of the cellphone-based location data of people who visit abortion clinics such as Planned Parenthood. 
  • On May 10, 2022, Senator Warren delivered a speech on the floor of the United States Senate on the need to protect the constitutional right to an abortion, pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, and fight back against Republican extremism. 
  • On May 9, 2022, Senator Warren wrote an op-ed in Marie Claire about the need to enshrine the right to an abortion in federal law. 
  • On May 3, 2022, when the draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked, Senator Warren spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court twice to activists, protestors, and the nation about the need to protect abortion rights. 

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