Pressley Statement on Harmful Reproductive Health Care Policies in FY25 Appropriations Bills

Washington – today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts 7th District) We issued the following statement regarding the attacks on sexual and reproductive health and rights in the FY25 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOP) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bills: These bills, which are being amended today, contain devastating funding cuts and harmful policy riders that block access to abortion, contraception, and gender-affirming care.

“It is disappointing, but not surprising, that Republicans are once again using the spending process to advance harmful policies that deny people at home and abroad access to the reproductive health care they need and deserve.

“America has a moral obligation to advance policies and funding that recognize reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy for all people, but the targeted attacks on sexual and reproductive rights in the SFOP bill and the Homeland Security Appropriations bill undermine our efforts to advance gender equality and equity, recognize the human rights of women and girls, protect our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters, and provide access to basic health care for immigrant families in federal custody. These attacks are shameful and dangerous, and Congress should remove barriers to care rather than perpetuate them.”

“I will never stop legislating to protect and expand access to sexual and reproductive health care.”

During her time in Congress, Rep. Pressley has fought tirelessly to protect basic reproductive and sexual health care rights.

• For anniversaries Dobbs In response to this ruling, Rep. Pressley introduced the Abortion Justice Act, a comprehensive, cross-cutting bill to address access to abortion care and lay out a comprehensive vision of a just America in which everyone who seeks an abortion, regardless of zip code, immigration status, income, or background, can easily receive abortion care without stigma, shame, or systemic barriers.
• Rep. Pressley is the lead co-sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), a bicameral federal bill that would ensure equal access to abortion care everywhere.
• Senator Pressley is also the lead co-sponsor of Act EACH, a bold bill to repeal the Hyde Amendment and guarantee abortion coverage regardless of how a patient obtains health insurance.
• The Supreme Court Roe v. WadeRep. Pressley led a group of Black women colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden urging him to declare a public health emergency amid unprecedented threats to abortion rights across the country.
• Rep. Pressley denounced the leak of a draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, implored the Senate to protect abortion rights, and decried the anti-abortion movement’s roots in white supremacy.
• In May 2024, Rep. Pressley released a statement regarding Louisiana’s bill that would classify the medication abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances.
• During a House Oversight Committee hearing in April 2024, Rep. Pressley played a game of “truth or fiction” with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf, highlighting the safety and effectiveness of the medical abortion drug mifepristone.
• In August 2023, Rep. Pressley released a statement regarding the Fifth Circuit Court’s ruling. Hippocratic Medical Association v. FDA.
• In July 2023, Rep. Pressley reintroduced the Reproductive Healthcare Accessibility Act with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Rep. Cori Bush (1st District, MO), and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), which would improve access to reproductive health care for people with disabilities who face discrimination or additional barriers when seeking health care, and help them receive the informed care they need to take control of their reproductive lives.
• In July 2023, Rep. Pressley praised the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of over-the-counter birth control.
• In May 2023, Rep. Pressley applauded the FDA advisory committee’s unanimous 17-0 vote to recommend approval of the first-ever application for an over-the-counter contraceptive. Rep. Pressley and Sen. Murray also held a press conference to applaud the decision and urge the FDA to approve over-the-counter contraceptives without delay.
• In May 2023, Rep. Pressley, along with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ami Bera, M.D. (California-6), Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), will reintroduce the Affordable Access Act, a joint bipartisan bill that would ensure insurers cover the full cost of over-the-counter contraceptives without fees or copays if the FDA determines that over-the-counter contraceptive options are safe.
• In April 2023, Rep. Pressley released a statement condemning the Texas court’s mifepristone ruling and discussed the Texas case in a recent State of the Union address, arguing that medication abortion is a routine medical treatment and that access to mifepristone is essential. Rep. Pressley then announced a mifepristone protection initiative in Massachusetts, along with Governor Maura Healey, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and local leaders.
• In March 2023, Rep. Pressley, along with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Reps. Schakowsky, Lee, DeGette, Torres, and Strickland, will reintroduce the harmful and discriminatory Helms Amendment, the Abortion Everywhere Health Care Act, to expand access to abortion around the world.
• In March 2023, Rep. Pressley and Sen. Hirono led their colleagues in reintroducing a bicameral congressional resolution honoring abortion providers and clinic staff.
• In March 2023, Rep. Pressley gave a speech to discuss a pending lawsuit in Texas that seeks to restrict access to medication abortions across the U.S. In her speech, Rep. Pressley affirmed that medication abortions are routine medical care and that access to the abortion drug mifepristone is essential.
• In September 2021, Rep. Pressley released a statement condemning the Supreme Court’s inaction on SB-8, Texas’ restrictive abortion law. Later that month, Rep. Pressley participated in a House Oversight Committee hearing examining the threat posed by abortion bans and stressed the urgency for the Senate to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act.
• In April 2021, Rep. Pressley, along with Rep. Barbara Lee (California, 13th District), Rep. Diana DeGette (Colorado, 1st District), and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Illinois, 9th District), led a group of 131 Democrats to reintroduce the Equal Access to Abortion in Health Care Act (EACH Act). The bill would repeal the Hyde Amendment and ensure that everyone, regardless of income, insurance, or zip code, can make their personal reproductive health decisions without interference from politicians. Rep. Pressley reintroduced the bill in January 2023.
• Pressley has called on Congress to urge the FDA to remove medically unnecessary restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone. FDA Actions Abortion pills will be allowed to be sold in retail pharmacies in January 2023.
• As Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus’ Abortion Rights and Access Task Force, Rep. Pressley led the fight to repeal the Hyde Amendment from annual appropriations bills for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies in July 2020. Posted on Medium She spoke about the importance of doing so, and she praised President Biden’s removal of the Hyde Amendment in the fiscal year 2022 budget.
• In May 2020, she led more than 155 members in urging House Democratic leadership to ensure that any upcoming COVID-19 relief package rejects Republican attempts to use the public health crisis to restrict access to abortion.
• In August 2021, Rep. Pressley, Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney, and Pro-Choice Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Diana DeGette and Barbara Lee led a group of more than 70 House Democrats in a bill to Solution Support fair, science-based policies governing access to medication abortion care.
• In January 2023, Rep. Pressley introduced a resolution condemning all forms of political violence in the United States, regardless of its target or intent. That same day, she He gave a powerful speech He blasted the Republican Party’s harmful and misleading anti-abortion resolution on the House floor.
• In September 2022, Rep. Pressley hosted U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra at Codman Square Health Center in Dorchester for a meeting to discuss efforts to address the health crisis for Black mothers and the criminalization of abortion care in states across the nation in the wake of the harmful 2019 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Dobbs v. JacksonWomen’s Health.
• In May 2019, she led over 100 of her colleagues in introducing a resolution, H.Con.Res.40, to reaffirm the House’s support for Roe v. Wade.
• In June 2019, Rep. Pressley introduced HR 3296, the Affordable Access Act, a bill that would make oral contraceptives available without a prescription.
• In September 2016, as a Boston City Council member, Pressley led a resolution calling on Congress and President Obama to repeal the Hyde Amendment and restore insurance coverage for abortion services.

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