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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 130 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 130

  Commending State and local governments for championing reproductive 
                        rights as human rights.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 24, 2024

    Ms. Williams of Georgia (for herself, Ms. Adams, Mr. Carter of 
   Louisiana, Mr. Casar, Ms. McClellan, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Doggett, Ms. 
Escobar, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Norton, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Nickel, Mr. 
 McGovern, Mr. Magaziner, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Sewell, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. 
 Wild, Mr. Trone, Mr. Cleaver, Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Beatty, Ms. Schakowsky, 
   Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. 
 Krishnamoorthi, Mrs. Fletcher, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. 
Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Ms. Pettersen, Mr. Espaillat, 
     Mr. Evans, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Omar, Ms. 
  Strickland, Mr. Robert Garcia of California, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Ocasio-
    Cortez, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Tokuda, Ms. Balint, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. 
    Grijalva, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Salinas, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. 
   Gottheimer, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. Deluzio, Mr. Soto, Ms. 
Titus, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Craig, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. 
Garcia of Illinois, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. Ross, Mrs. Peltola, Mr. Himes, Mr. 
   Kennedy, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Carson, Ms. Crockett, Ms. Stevens, Mr. 
Goldman of New York, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Ms. Porter, Ms. Brown, Ms. 
 Jacobs, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Allred, Ms. Castor of Florida, Ms. Dean of 
 Pennsylvania, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Casten, Ms. Chu, Ms. Bush, Ms. Wilson 
of Florida, Ms. DelBene, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Mr. Bowman, 
 Mr. Sorensen, Mr. Cardenas, Ms. Budzinski, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Carbajal, 
  Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Peters, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, and Ms. DeGette) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
  the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
  Commending State and local governments for championing reproductive 
                        rights as human rights.

Whereas, on June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson 
        Women's Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022) overturned Roe v. Wade, 
        410 U.S. 113 (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992) 
        and eliminated the Federal constitutional right to abortion in the 
        United States;
Whereas, subsequently, more than a dozen States have passed legal barriers that 
        fully ban abortion, and many others have passed legal barriers that 
        severely restrict abortion;
Whereas the retrogression on abortion rights in the United States is 
        inconsistent with United States obligations under international human 
        rights law;
Whereas treaties ratified by the United States should be upheld at the Federal, 
        State, and local level as they are considered the ``supreme Law of the 
        Land'' under clause 2 of Article VI of the United States Constitution;
Whereas the United States has ratified, and is bound by, the International 
        Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, done on June 1, 1992, the 
        International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial 
        Discrimination, done on September 29, 1994, and the Convention against 
        Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 
        done on September 19, 1994;
Whereas the United States has previously joined the international community in 
        identifying reproductive rights as human rights, including during the 
        1995 Beijing World Conference on Women;
Whereas escalating restrictions on abortion access in the United States conflict 
        with public health guidance;
Whereas the abortion care guideline, published by the World Health Organization 
        in 2022, recommends the full decriminalization of abortion, the removal 
        of grounds-based restrictions on abortion, and the removal of 
        gestational age-limits on the provision of abortion care;
Whereas access to the full range of sexual and reproductive health care, 
        including abortion, is essential to the health and well-being of all 
        people;
Whereas no one should be criminalized for any pregnancy outcome;
Whereas punishing people for their pregnancy outcomes and the circumstances of 
        their pregnancies or for providing essential reproductive and sexual 
        health care violates their human rights;
Whereas the threat of criminalization or prosecution can intimidate people from 
        seeking or providing care;
Whereas reproductive and sexual health care providers administer high-quality, 
        essential health care, and play a critical role in ensuring people are 
        able to make decisions about their bodies and lives with dignity;
Whereas no one should be criminalized for providing essential health care;
Whereas pregnant people who have been denied abortion care suffer many adverse 
        consequences, including putting their health, fertility, and lives at 
        risk, being forced to carry nonviable pregnancies to term, and being 
        criminalized for miscarriage, the circumstances of their pregnancies, 
        abortions, and other pregnancy outcomes;
Whereas pregnant people in Texas, and other Southern States, have been forced to 
        undergo invasive and dangerous surgeries, such as cesarean sections, 
        instead of receiving routine abortion care when faced with obstetric 
        emergencies, putting their health and lives at risk;
Whereas this obstetric violence has long been true for communities of color and 
        especially Black communities, as early American gynecology treated Black 
        women as expendable clinical material for its institutional needs, and 
        this medical violence was animated by biological racism and the legal 
        and economic exigencies of the antebellum era;
Whereas Indigenous people, Black people, people of color, people with low 
        incomes, people living in rural areas, people with disabilities, 
        immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and other marginalized individuals are 
        disproportionately likely to be surveilled, arrested, charged, 
        prosecuted, convicted, and heavily punished within the United States 
        criminal justice system and, due to systemic discrimination, to 
        experience additional scrutiny from the United States legal system;
Whereas, from 2006 to 2022, almost 1,400 people were arrested in the United 
        States in relation to the circumstances or outcomes of their pregnancy, 
        including pregnancy loss, and prosecutions overwhelmingly targeted 
        people with low incomes, and this trend has only increased since the 
        Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision;
Whereas the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision has further 
        decimated abortion access in the United States;
Whereas the United States has been reviewed by two United Nations treaty- 
        monitoring bodies since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization 
        decision--the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and 
        the Human Rights Committee;
Whereas, on August 11 and 12, 2022, the United Nations Committee on the 
        Elimination of Racial Discrimination reviewed the United States 
        implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All 
        Forms of Racial Discrimination and on August 30, 2022, issued 
        recommendations to the United States Government to address the profound 
        disparate impact of the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson 
        Women's Health Organization on women of racial and ethnic minorities, 
        Indigenous women and those with low incomes;
Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Committee reviewed the United States' 
        implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
        Rights on October 17 and 18, 2023, and issued concluding observations 
        and recommendations to the United States Government on November 3, 2023;
Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Committee's concluding observations 
        express deep concern over the criminalization of abortion seekers, those 
        who help them and abortion providers; restrictions on interstate travel 
        that inhibits access to care; bans on medication abortion; and the use 
        of digital data surrounding abortion for prosecution purposes;
Whereas State and local governments play an important role in ensuring that the 
        United States complies with its treaty obligations;
Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Committee called on and encouraged State 
        and local lawmakers to uphold human rights in their law making and to 
        take specific action to ensure that no one is criminalized for a 
        pregnancy outcome, nor anyone who provides abortion care or helps 
        someone obtain an abortion and that all people can access abortion care 
        when they need it;
Whereas the City of Alexandria, Virginia, enacted a resolution to expand access 
        to abortion on June 28, 2022, in the wake of the Dobbs decision, and the 
        city council held a status update meeting to address areas for 
        improvement on June 25, 2024, just after the two-year anniversary of 
        Dobbs, and will seek to proactively address unmet needs in the upcoming 
        City budget;
Whereas Louisiana House Bills 56, 63, 164, and 293 were introduced in February 
        2024, and sought to increase access to reproductive health care and 
        committee testimony regarding the bills illustrate the human rights 
        concerns and obligations that necessitated the passage of these bills;
Whereas Mount Rainier, Maryland, issued a Mayoral Proclamation declaring June 
        24, 2024, as ``Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Day'', a first of 
        its kind effort on a local level to protect reproductive freedom as a 
        human right;
Whereas Montgomery County, Maryland, passed a resolution to address the Dobbs 
        decision in 2022 and unanimously passed a resolution with unanimous 
        support on September 10, 2024, to increase access to abortion in the 
        county and to explicitly condemn the criminalization of anyone for a 
        pregnancy outcome or the criminalization of anyone for a circumstance 
        surrounding their pregnancy;
Whereas the City Council of Austin, Texas, has invested over $400,000 in support 
        for abortion access to help low-income people overcome the myriad 
        barriers they face seeking abortion care, and passed a resolution on 
        August 29, 2024, declaring abortion as a human right, acknowledging the 
        duties of the Texas government at the local and State levels to uphold 
        its human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil 
        and Political Rights, and explicitly condemning the criminalization of 
        anyone for a pregnancy outcome or the criminalization of anyone for a 
        circumstance surrounding their pregnancy;
Whereas the City Councils of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North Carolina, 
        introduced and passed resolutions on September 11 and 12, 2024, 
        declaring reproductive rights and abortion as human rights, and 
        explicitly condemning the chill felt in North Carolina from neighboring 
        States that ban abortion and the criminalization of anyone for a 
        pregnancy outcome or for any circumstance surrounding their pregnancy;
Whereas Louisiana House Bills 56, 63, 164, and 293, the City of Mount Rainier 
        Proclamation making June 24, 2024, Reproductive Rights are Human Rights 
        Day, and resolutions for Austin, Texas, Montgomery County, Maryland, 
        Alexandria, Virginia, and Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North Carolina, 
        reflect State and local efforts, to address recommendations made by the 
        United Nations Human Rights Committee on maternal mortality, voluntary 
        termination of pregnancy, and sexual and reproductive rights and to 
        promote and protect human rights; and
Whereas Louisiana House Bills 56, 63, 164, and 293, the City of Mount Rainier 
        Proclamation making June 24th Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Day, 
        and the resolutions for Austin, Texas, Alexandria, Virginia, Montgomery 
        County, Maryland, and Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North Carolina, further 
        efforts to promote compliance with the United States' human rights 
        obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
        Rights, in accordance with Article VI, clause 2 of the United States 
        Constitution: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) recognizes the important role that State and local 
        governments should play to ensure that the United States 
        complies with its treaty obligations;
            (2) condemns the criminalization of abortion and the 
        criminalization of any circumstances or outcomes of a person's 
        pregnancy in the United States;
            (3) affirms that all people deserve access to high-quality 
        health care without fear of punishment;
            (4) affirms that reproductive rights are human rights;
            (5) urges the governments of States that impose 
        restrictions harmful to pregnant people to repeal those 
        restrictions; and
            (6) urges the government of States--
                    (A) to repeal State laws that criminalize abortion;
                    (B) to prohibit the prosecution of people for 
                having abortions or for any other circumstances or 
                outcomes of their pregnancies; and
                    (C) to protect and guarantee human rights.
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