[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1411 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1411
Recognizing July 2024 as the 30th anniversary of the reproductive
justice movement to raise awareness around the history of reproductive
justice and honor the foremothers of the reproductive justice movement,
build a world in which Black girls and gender expansive people, as well
as all Americans marginalized by their race, class, or gender, are free
from systems of reproductive oppression of their bodies, sexuality,
labor, and reproduction.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 6, 2024
Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Ms. DeGette, Ms. Wilson of Florida,
Ms. Underwood, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, and Mr. Evans) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing July 2024 as the 30th anniversary of the reproductive
justice movement to raise awareness around the history of reproductive
justice and honor the foremothers of the reproductive justice movement,
build a world in which Black girls and gender expansive people, as well
as all Americans marginalized by their race, class, or gender, are free
from systems of reproductive oppression of their bodies, sexuality,
labor, and reproduction.
Whereas, 30 years ago, in 1994, a trailblazing group of Black women came
together to advance a health agenda centered on the unique concerns and
lived experiences of women and girls of color, especially Black women
and girls, who faced longstanding health disparities, including higher
rates of infant and maternal mortality and morbidity, breast cancer,
fibroids, gender-based violence, and HIV/AIDS;
Whereas they coined this vision to be ``reproductive justice'', building on
concepts of reproductive rights, social justice, and human rights as a
way of centering the specific lived experiences of Black women;
Whereas reproductive justice offers a human rights framework that affirms the
right to not have a child, the right to have a child, the right to the
social and economic supports to parent one's children, free from
violence, and the right to bodily autonomy and sexual expression;
Whereas the foremothers of the reproductive justice movement helped the Nation
to understand that Black women know what it means to lead communities
and lead movements, while struggling for basic equality, social justice,
and human rights;
Whereas reproductive justice seeks to address bans and restrictions on
reproductive health, including abortion, that have perpetuated systems
of oppression, lack of bodily autonomy, White supremacy, and anti-Black
racism, all rooted in systems resulting the enslavement, rape, and
experimentation of Black people, forced sterilizations, medical
experimentation on low-income women's reproductive systems, and the
forcible removal of indigenous children;
Whereas Black women and gender expansive Black people are three times more
likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women in the
United States;
Whereas studies show that when Black women suffer from severe injuries or
pregnancy complications or simply ask for assistance, they are often
dismissed or ignored in the health care settings that are supposed to
care for them;
Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States upended nearly 50 years of its
own precedent and issued a majority opinion in Dobbs v. Women's Health
Organization that overturned the constitutional right to abortion care
enshrined by Roe v. Wade and continues to disproportionately impact
Black women and girls, who are more likely to lack economic resources,
to be unemployed and uninsured, and to be insured by programs that
restrict coverage for abortion care;
Whereas the Black LGBTQIA+ community experiences disproportionate levels of
homelessness, poverty, and unemployment and a crisis of violence against
Black transgender women and girls;
Whereas, too often, Black families lack access to jobs with a living wage, safe
and secure housing, accessible transportation, and affordable, healthy
food;
Whereas Black families bear the brunt of environmental injustices like air and
water pollution, which worsen health outcomes, and the burden of law
enforcement officials operating with unfair and unjust biases, which can
be fatal; and
Whereas Black women are the largest voting constituency in the United States
electorate: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) honors the 30th anniversary of the founding of the
reproductive justice movement;
(2) acknowledges a history of institutional racism,
inhumanity, and inequality of access to information, services,
and supports, especially for Black women, girls, and LGTBQI+
individuals, and recognizes that the mission of reproductive
justice can help to continue to remedy this history, as we
fight to fully realize the promise of these United States;
(3) acknowledges the right to bodily autonomy rooted in the
``liberty doctrine'' of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution,
established during the Reconstruction era to ensure all
Americans, including enslaved Americans--Black Americans--had a
fundamental right to life, liberty, and property, free from
forced labor, forced abortion, and forced pregnancy;
(4) supports the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in
Healthcare (EACH) Act's policies of repealing the Hyde
Amendment to guarantee abortion coverage regardless of a
patient's health insurance status or ZIP Code;
(5) supports the American Rescue Plan's policies to address
racial disparities in maternal and child health outcomes and
give States the option to provide a full year of postpartum
coverage to women on Medicaid, increasing it from just 60 days
previously;
(6) recognizes a long history of reproductive injustice
fueled by systemic racism and bias;
(7) supports a whole-of-government approach to make even
progress in reproductive health inequities, including through
the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health
Crisis;
(8) supports the ability to parent one's child in a safe
and secure environment, with all necessary socioeconomic
support and without any form of violence;
(9) encourages public officials, educators, librarians,
public health officers, health care workers, and all the people
of the United States to raise awareness around the history of
reproductive justice and observe this anniversary;
(10) commits to advancing policy that will build a world in
which Black girls and gender expansive people, as well as all
Americans marginalized by their race, class, or gender, are
free from systems of reproductive oppression of their bodies,
sexuality, labor, and reproduction;
(11) affirms that voting rights is a reproductive justice
issue, and access to the ballot box is central to protecting
reproductive health, rights, and justice in localities and
States across the country; and
(12) recognizes that reproductive justice calls on
governments and society to ensure conditions exist for each
individual in the United States and across the world to realize
reproductive justice values.
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