{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140301152455/http://frankel.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/frankel-blumenthal-baldwin-boxer-chu-fudge-announce-legislation-to", "Frankel, Blumenthal, Baldwin, Boxer, Chu, Fudge Announce Legislation to Protect Access to Reproductive Care", "2013-11-13", "2013", "2013-11", "Democrat", "House", "FL", "Lois Frankel", "F000462", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC \u2013 Today Congresswoman Lois Frankel\u2013 joined by U.S. Senators U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Tammy Baldwin (WI), Barbara Boxer (CA) and U.S. Representatives Judy Chu (CA-27) \u00a0Marcia Fudge (OH-11) announced the Women\u2019s Health Protection Act of 2013.\nThe Women\u2019s Health Protection Act would protect a woman\u2019s right to safe and legal abortion by stopping restrictive regulations and laws \u2013 such as those in place in states including Texas and Wisconsin \u2013 intended to curtail reproductive health services for women. This legislation would prohibit laws that impose burdensome requirements on access to reproductive health services such as requiring doctors to perform tests and procedures that doctors have deemed unnecessary or preventing doctors from prescribing and dispensing medication as is medically appropriate. Other examples of laws that make it more difficult for a woman to access an abortion include: restrictions on medical training for future abortion providers, requirements concerning the physical layout of clinics where abortions are performed, and forced waiting periods for patients.\n\u00a0\nCongresswoman Lois Frankel\n\u201cWe\u2019ve seen over the last few years that women in Florida and across the country are losing access to critical health services due to excessive and restrictive state laws and that\u2019s why it\u2019s important Congress passes the Women\u2019s Health Protection Act. Every woman deserves the right to make her own health care decisions, no matter what state she lives in.\u201d\nSenator Richard Blumenthal \n\u201cA new federal law is necessary to stop anti-choice legislators from using women\u2019s health and safety as a ploy to enact unconscionable and unconstitutional state statutes that obstruct and block women from essential health care and reproductive rights. Such restrictions create cascading doubt and deception that deter women from making personal decisions based their own values and constitutional rights. The Women\u2019s Health Protection Act invalidates unnecessary, unwarranted requirements and procedures \u2013 ranging from ultrasounds and admitting privileges to physical clinic layouts. I am proud that Connecticut has avoided such unjustifiable restrictions, and I am determined to stand with women against state laws abhorrent and antithetical to well-established rights. This law will help make reproductive rights real.\u201d\u00a0\nSenator Tammy Baldwin\n\u201cIn Wisconsin and in states across the country, politicians have been standing between women and their doctors, restricting the choices women can make regarding their own reproductive health. I am proud to stand up to these attacks on women\u2019s freedoms and introduce the Women\u2019s Health Protection Act. \u00a0Every American woman deserves the freedom to exercise her constitutional rights by making personal health decisions for herself and her family with a trusted doctor, and without political interference.\u201d\nSenator Barbara Boxer\n\u201cThe Women\u2019s Health Protection Act will protect millions of women \u2013 regardless of what state they live in \u2013 from dangerous restrictions on their access to health care. It affirms the fundamental principle that a woman\u2019s medical decisions are best left up to her, her family, and her doctor \u2013 not politicians waging radical assaults on women\u2019s reproductive health.\u201d\nCongresswoman Judy Chu \n\u201cA woman\u2019s right to choose is meaningless if she\u2019s stripped of her options. State laws eroding access to abortion create unnecessary hurdles and jeopardize women\u2019s health. We\u2019re introducing the Women\u2019s Health Protection Act today to ensure every woman can access safe medical care regardless of where she lives.\u201d\nCongresswoman Marcia Fudge\n\u201cEarlier this year, my home state of Ohio passed a budget bill that defunds Planned Parenthood and restricts grants to rape crisis centers that refers women to abortion clinics. This budget bill also requires abortion clinics to transfer patients to a local hospital in the case of emergencies, but prohibits public, local hospitals from entering into those agreements.\u00a0 Together, these actions have severely limited a woman\u2019s ability to exercise her reproductive rights in the state of Ohio. Other states have passed similar laws, but the Women\u2019s Health Protection Act will help put an end to this needless government interference at the state level.\u201d\n\u00a0\nThe Women\u2019s Health Protection Act has 27 cosponsors in the Senate and 52 cosponsors in the House.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140301152455/http://frankel.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/frankel-blumenthal-baldwin-boxer-chu-fudge-announce-legislation-to"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0690507479012012, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}