Elfreth Votes No on “Reproductive Health Care Surveillance Act”
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth (MD-03) voted against H.R. 21, the “Reproductive Health Care Surveillance Act.” This bill would criminalize reproductive health care providers and threaten access to life-saving care, including for patients who require abortion care later in pregnancy.
“Doctors already take the Hippocratic Oath to vow to work in their patient’s best interest with compassion and absolute discretion. What is more: infanticide is already illegal in all 50 states–and this was reiterated in federal law in 2002. This bill does nothing but limit access to reproductive health care by forcing doctors to prioritize compliance over compassionate care. We should not be forcing women who are facing life-threatening conditions and severe fetal anomalies to go through more hurdles on some of the hardest days of their lives,” said Congresswoman Elfreth. “As I took this vote, I thought of Emma from South Carolina. At five months pregnant, Emma faced the devastating news that her pregnancy had multiple life-threatening anomalies. After deciding to end her pregnancy, Emma and her husband Zach were forced to travel hundreds of miles from their home in South Carolina to Maryland to find a clinic that could provide her with the care she needed. I’m proud that Maryland continues to lead the way in protecting women’s reproductive health care, but it simply shouldn’t come to this.”
H.R. 21 is also opposed by 60+ national women’s health care groups for the dangerous limitations that the bill places on reproductive health care providers. The Republican “Reproductive Health Care Surveillance Act” threatens to send doctors and nurses to prison for exercising their medical judgment, even if they save a mother’s life. The legislation would ultimately deny women the life-saving care they need.
Elfreth voted against a similar policy in the Maryland State Senate, where she spent six years fighting to protect and expand women’s access to reproductive health care.
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