Official Summaries

This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that every individual has the right to emergency health care, including abortion care.

Current Full Text

[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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