IV 

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. VELA ́ZQUEZ, 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. CHERFILUSMCCORMICK, 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. 

GARCI ́A 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. BARRAGA ́N, 

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. SORENSEN, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, 

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 


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•HCON 130 IH 

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 


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•HCON 130 IH 

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 


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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; 


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•HCON 130 IH 

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; 


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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 SepVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:24 Sep 25, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC130.IH HC130

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tember 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 reproVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:24 Sep 25, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC130.IH HC130

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ductive 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 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) recognizes the important role that State and 

4 local governments should play to ensure that the 

5 United States complies with its treaty obligations; 

6 (2) condemns the criminalization of abortion 

7 and the criminalization of any circumstances or out8 comes of a person’s pregnancy in the United States; 

9 (3) affirms that all people deserve access to 

10 high-quality health care without fear of punishment; 

11 (4) affirms that reproductive rights are human 

12 rights; 

13 (5) urges the governments of States that im14 pose restrictions harmful to pregnant people to re15 peal those restrictions; and 

16 (6) urges the government of States— 


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1 (A) to repeal State laws that criminalize 

2 abortion; 

3 (B) to prohibit the prosecution of people 

4 for having abortions or for any other cir5 cumstances or outcomes of their pregnancies; 

6 and 

7 (C) to protect and guarantee human 

8 rights. 

Æ 


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