Res. No. 245

Resolution calling on the United States Senate to pass and the President to sign the Women’s Health Protection Act

By the Public Advocate (Mr. Williams) and Council Members Cabán, Hanif, Louis, Narcisse, Avilés, Joseph, Farías, Ossé, De La Rosa, Dinowitz, Marte, Krishnan, Ayala, Sanchez, Lee, Won, Powers, Richardson Jordan and The Speaker (Council Member Adams)

Whereas, A citizen’s rights to make decisions about their own bodies, their families, and their lives are basic human rights; and

Whereas, Reproductive rights and abortion services are essential health care and the cornerstone of a sound public health system; and

Whereas, Ensuring access to abortion care is central to the pursuit of reproductive justice; and

Whereas, According to the Guttmacher Institute, nearly 1 in 4 women in America will have an abortion by age 45; and

Whereas, The 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade was a landmark decision in which the Court ruled that a person may choose to have an abortion until a fetus becomes viable (usually between 24 and 28 weeks after conception), based on the right to privacy contained in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; and

Whereas, Nonetheless, access to abortion services has been obstructed across the United States in various ways, including blockades of health care facilities, restrictions on insurance coverage, medically unnecessary regulations and many more that neither confer any health benefit nor further the safety of abortion services; and

Whereas, According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, nearly 500 state laws restricting abortion have been enacted since 2011, nearly 90 percent of American counties are without a single abortion provider and five states are down to their last abortion clinic; and

Whereas, The harms of abortion restrictions fall especially heavily on people with low-income, immigrants, women of color, those in the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, and other marginalized or multi-marginalized groups; and

Whereas, According to a study by Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), individuals who are forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy are more likely to experience intimate partner violence, health problems, poverty, and ongoing financial distress and eviction than those who are able to access wanted abortion care; and

Whereas, With a leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court suggesting that Roe v. Wade is on the brink of being overturned in the highest court in the land, it is essential to enshrine the right to abortion access into federal law; and

Whereas, S.1975, sponsored by U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, and H.R. 3755, sponsored by Representative Judy Chu, also known as the Women Health Protection Act (WHPA), would protect the federal right to abortion and would block the barrage of state bans and restrictions on abortion intended to impede or outright deny access; and

Whereas, The House of Representatives passed WHPA on September 24, 2021, yet the Senate has failed to move forward with the bill; and

 Whereas, WHPA would protect a person’s freedom to make decisions about their own reproductive health care and a health care provider’s ability to provide the full range of reproductive health services, including abortion; and

Whereas, Reproductive justice is a human right that can and will be achieved when all people regardless of race, color, national origin, immigration status, sexual orientation, age, or disability status, have the economic, social, and political power and resources to define and make decisions about their bodies, health, sexuality, families, and communities; now, therefore, be it

Resolved That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the United States Senate to pass and the President to sign the Women’s Health Protection Act.

VM

5/23/2022

LS#6203