[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 238 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 238
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that every person
has the basic right to emergency health care, including abortion care.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 21, 2025
Mrs. Sykes (for herself, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Auchincloss, Ms. Balint, Ms.
Barragan, Mr. Bell, Mr. Beyer, Ms. Brown, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Budzinski,
Mr. Carson, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mrs.
Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cisneros, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Craig, Ms.
Crockett, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms. DeGette,
Ms. DeLauro, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Elfreth, Mr. Espaillat, Mr.
Foster, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Ms. Friedman, Mr. Frost, Mr.
Garcia of California, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Gottheimer, Mrs.
Hayes, Mr. Horsford, Mr. Huffman, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Ms.
Kaptur, Mr. Kennedy of New York, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Landsman, Mr. Larsen
of Washington, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Lee of Nevada, Ms. Leger
Fernandez, Mr. Magaziner, Ms. McBride, Mrs. McClain Delaney, Mr.
McGovern, Mrs. McIver, Ms. McClellan, Ms. Ansari, Mr. Menendez, Ms.
Meng, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Nadler, Ms.
Norton, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Peters, Mr. Pocan, Ms.
Pressley, Mr. Quigley, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Ross, Ms. Salinas, Ms.
Scanlon, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Stanton, Ms. Stevens, Ms.
Strickland, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Swalwell, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Ms.
Tokuda, Mr. Tonko, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Tran, Ms. Underwood, Mr. Vasquez,
Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Williams of Georgia,
and Ms. Clark of Massachusetts) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that every person
has the basic right to emergency health care, including abortion care.
Whereas bans and restrictions on reproductive health care, including abortion
care, put the health and lives of pregnant people at risk;
Whereas State laws that purport to ban and restrict abortion in emergency
circumstances force medical providers to decide between withholding
necessary, stabilizing medical care from a patient experiencing a
medical emergency or face criminal prosecution put the life, health, and
future of pregnant people at risk;
Whereas the harms of criminalizing medical providers providing emergency health
care or patients receiving emergency health care are far reaching and
providers and patients who are Black, Indigenous, people of color,
immigrants, people with low incomes, and LGBTQI+ individuals are more
likely to be put under the scrutiny of the legal system;
Whereas, every person, including every pregnant person, should be able to access
emergency health care at an emergency department without discrimination;
Whereas delays and denials of emergency care, for any reason, risk the health
and lives of patients;
Whereas the harms associated with abortion bans and other restrictions on
reproductive health care have a disproportionate impact on patients of
color, specifically Black and Indigenous pregnant patients, who are more
likely to experience life-threatening pregnancy complications;
Whereas the chaos and confusion caused by abortion bans and restrictions can
dissuade providers from providing appropriate medical care to patients
when they need it the most, including in emergency care situations such
as heart failure or high blood pressure which can be caused by a
previous pregnancy, premature rupture of membranes, severe obstetric
hemorrhage or infection, placenta previa where the placenta attaches to
the cervix, and in some cases missed miscarriages, among many other
emergency medical conditions; and
Whereas, every person has the basic right, and is entitled by law, to the
emergency care they need to protect their health and lives, including
abortion care: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that
every person has the basic right to emergency health care, including
abortion care.
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