While some states are enacting laws that will keep women and their preborn children safe, lawmakers in our nation’s capital are doing the exact opposite. The City Council of Washington, D.C., has proposed a bill titled the “Strengthening Reproductive Health Protections Amendment Act of 2019,” which would almost completely deregulate the abortion industry there. While it’s clearly a win for abortion facilities and their defenders, it’s a huge loss for anyone who values women’s safety.
The bill was introduced by Councilmember David Grosso and six other members of the City Council. In a press release, Grosso seemed to acknowledge that this decision was purely about striking back against the pro-life bills other states are passing — and not about the well-being and safety of women. He said:
Across the country, reproductive health decisions—and specifically abortion rights—are under attack. However, another movement is growing, one that seeks to positively and proactively protect people’s right to make their own reproductive health decisions. I believe the District of Columbia should be at the forefront of that movement.
The ‘Strengthening Reproductive Health Protections Amendment Act of 2019’ makes clear that D.C. residents have the right, in consultation with their doctor and free from government interference, to make medical decisions about contraception, abortion, or carrying a pregnancy to term. I am overwhelming grateful to the advocates who voiced their unequivocal support for this legislation and to Councilmember Todd for co-introducing the bill and holding today’s important hearing.
READ: Hemorrhaging woman rushed to hospital after abortion at D.C. Planned Parenthood
While this bill may very well ensure that women are able to go to abortion facilities, it also means that the abortions committed within are unregulated and dangerous. If the bill were to pass, some of the things that abortion facilities would no longer have to worry about are sanitary condition requirements, having to report victims of abuse, maintaining functioning sewage systems, proper administration of medication, proper medical staffing, and more.
All medical facilities must be held to certain standards in order to remain safe, and these are largely common-sense regulations that should not be political. Yet as soon as abortion enters the picture, safe medical procedures no longer seem to matter.
Just earlier this year, a woman at a D.C. Planned Parenthood had to be rushed to the hospital after hemorrhaging, allegedly from a surgical abortion procedure.
Students for Life of America Capital Area Regional Coordinator Stephanie Stone will testify against the bill this week, and in an e-mail alert from Students for Life said, “[T]his drastic act would amend the Human Rights Act of 1977 by ignoring the human rights of unique and living people also living in the District: the preborn. Maybe that’s not surprising in a city with very little regulation of abortion, but what is shocking is putting women’s lives at risk by lowering medical standards.”
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