Ahead of Hearing, Oversight Committee Releases Memo Detailing Extreme Anti-Abortion Positions of Congressional Republicans

Washington, D.C. (Sept. 29, 2022)—Today, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, released a Committee staff analysis detailing efforts by Republicans at all levels of government to ban abortion or impose restrictions that would erect barriers to care, including congressional Republicans' efforts to impose a national abortion ban.

"The Supreme Court's extreme decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization was the culmination of decades of Republican efforts to strip away the fundamental right to abortion" stated Chairwoman Maloney. "Make no mistake, Republicans have no intention of stopping until abortion is banned in every state. This Congress alone, Republicans have introduced more than 50 bills that would ban abortion or impose barriers to care nationwide, including bills that would prosecute doctors for providing care to their patients. A nationwide abortion ban directly threatens the health and economic security of nearly 64 million women of reproductive age across the country."

Between 2017 and 2021, Republican governors signed into law approximately 127 lawsbanning abortion or erecting barriers to care. Approximately 31 million women of reproductive age live in the states that have enacted these bans and restrictions

At the same time, congressional Republicans have doubled down on their efforts to target abortion rights and strip away women's reproductive autonomy, threatening the health and economic security of the nearly 64 million women of reproductive age in the United States.

These Republican abortion bans and restrictions have potentially life-threatening consequences. Research shows that women who are denied access to abortion care are more likely to experience life-threatening pregnancy complications and experience chronic health conditions after childbirth.

Below are key findings from the Committee's analysis:

• From 2017 to 2021, Republican-led states enacted approximately 127 laws restricting abortion, impacting approximately 31 million women of reproductive age.

• Since 2021, Republicans in Congress have introduced 52 bills to ban or restrict abortion nationwide, including 16 bills that call for criminal prosecution of doctors and nurses and four that target the ability to travel to obtain an abortion. 179 House Republicans support banning abortion at only six weeks—before most women even know they're pregnant. 167 House Republicans support legislation that would define personhood as beginning at conception, in effect banning all abortions.

• A Republican national abortion ban would take away reproductive freedom from nearly 64 million women across the country—roughly twice the number impacted by current state restrictions.

• A 2021 study estimated that a national ban on abortion could increase overall maternal mortality by 24% and increase maternal mortality for Black women by 39%.

• States with the most severe abortion restrictions have the worst maternal and infant outcomes, larger gender wage gaps, and higher poverty rates for women and children.

Click here to read the memo.

Click hereto watch the Committee hearing at 10:00 a.m. ET.

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