Protecting Women’s Reproductive Freedom

The Women's Health Protection Act

Today, the House passed the Women's Health Protection Act of 2021 to safeguard the right to reproductive health care and enshrine into law the critical protections of Roe v. Wade.

For years, radical restrictions on women's health freedoms have been pushed across the nation – with 2021 set to be the worst year ever for women's reproductive rights. In May, the most extreme abortion ban in recent history was signed into law in Texas, which the Supreme Court then made the cowardly, dark-of-night decision to uphold. This flagrantly unconstitutional law bans abortion before most women know they are pregnant, with no exceptions for cases of rape or incest, while also creating a disturbing vigilante bounty system that will have a chilling effect on the provision of any health care services across the state.

Our bill fights back against this dangerous assault on women's health freedoms, ensuring that every woman, everywhere has the constitutional right to basic reproductive health care.

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi speaks on the House floor in support of the Women's Health Protection Act.

As the House passes this legislation in the Congress, Democrats are continuing the fight in the Courts. On Monday, House and Senate Democrats joined an amicus brief in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case before the Supreme Court, which challenges Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban. As Justice Sotomayor wrote in her dissent, the Court must uphold "its constitutional obligations to protect not only the rights of women, but also the sanctity of its precedents and of the rule of law."

Disaster Funding for California
This week, the House passed a bill to keep the government open through December 3, 2021 – while also delivering nearly $30 billion in disaster relief nationwide, including to help our state recover.

This bill, which will now be taken up by the Senate, will provide:

• $210 million for Western drought response;
• $10 billion to help cover losses of crops for farmers, including smoke-damaged wine grapes;
• $200 million for fishery disasters;
• $1.77 billion for the Forest Service and the Department of Interior to deal with wildfires, rehab burned areas and prevent future fires with hazardous fuel management, while also lifting the annual pay cap for emergency wildland firefighters;
• $890 million for fixing disaster-damaged roads and bridges in California; and
• $5 billion nationally for long-term recovery from 2020 and 2021 disasters, including the California wildfire, to restore housing, infrastructure and economic rebuilding measures.

The bill also prevents a devastating default on the national debt, which would be catastrophic for families and the economy as we recover from the COVID pandemic and economic crisis. Failing to address the debt limit would cost the U.S. economy up to six million jobs, wipe out $15 trillion in household wealth and send unemployment rates up to nine percent. This legislation also includes funding to continue supporting the relocation and settling of Afghan evacuees in America, honoring our nation's promise to our Afghan partners and their families.

Despite House Republicans voting against this crucial legislation, Congress must uphold its commitment to keep government open, address emergency relief needs and never let the full faith and credit of the United States come under threat.

Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, Help Is Here! Make sure you get your Rescue Plan benefits today.

Keeping Ahead of COVID in San Francisco
The FDA has authorized a 3rd dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for individuals who are 65 and older, have an underlying medical condition or work in high-risk settings. As the Delta variant spreads, you can get vaccinated and continue to take precautions to keep you and your loved ones safe. For eligible residents over the age of 12, find out where your local free vaccination sites are here, as well as at select SFUHSD schools. Learn about free testing options in San Francisco. California also announced a digital vaccination portal which can be accessed here.