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. RAMI-
REZ, 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. 
GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. ROSS, Mrs. PELTOLA, Mr. HIMES, 
Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. CARSON, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. STE-
VENS, 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 Com-
merce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
07:24 Sep 25, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\HC130.IH
HC130
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
•HCON 130 IH 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Commending State and local governments for championing 
reproductive rights as human rights. 
Whereas, on June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme 
Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organiza-
tion, 597 U.S. 215 (2022) overturned Roe v. Wade, 410 
U.S. 113 (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 
U.S. 833 (1992) and eliminated the Federal constitu-
tional right to abortion in the United States; 
Whereas, subsequently, more than a dozen States have 
passed legal barriers that fully ban abortion, and many 
others have passed legal barriers that severely restrict 
abortion; 
Whereas the retrogression on abortion rights in the United 
States is inconsistent with United States obligations 
under international human rights law; 
Whereas treaties ratified by the United States should be 
upheld at the Federal, State, and local level as they are 
considered the ‘‘supreme Law of the Land’’ under clause 
2 of Article VI of the United States Constitution; 
Whereas the United States has ratified, and is bound by, the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 
done on June 1, 1992, the International Convention on 
the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 
done on September 29, 1994, and the Convention against 
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treat-
ment or Punishment, done on September 19, 1994; 
Whereas the United States has previously joined the inter-
national community in identifying reproductive rights as 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
07:24 Sep 25, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC130.IH
HC130
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
•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 de-
criminalization 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 in-
timidate people from seeking or providing care; 
Whereas reproductive and sexual health care providers ad-
minister 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 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
07:24 Sep 25, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC130.IH
HC130
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
•HCON 130 IH 
miscarriage, the circumstances of their pregnancies, abor-
tions, and other pregnancy outcomes; 
Whereas pregnant people in Texas, and other Southern 
States, have been forced to undergo invasive and dan-
gerous surgeries, such as cesarean sections, instead of re-
ceiving routine abortion care when faced with obstetric 
emergencies, putting their health and lives at risk; 
Whereas this obstetric violence has long been true for com-
munities of color and especially Black communities, as 
early American gynecology treated Black women as ex-
pendable clinical material for its institutional needs, and 
this medical violence was animated by biological racism 
and the legal and economic exigencies of the antebellum 
era; 
Whereas Indigenous people, Black people, people of color, 
people with low incomes, people living in rural areas, peo-
ple with disabilities, immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, 
and other marginalized individuals are disproportionately 
likely to be surveilled, arrested, charged, prosecuted, con-
victed, and heavily punished within the United States 
criminal justice system and, due to systemic discrimina-
tion, to experience additional scrutiny from the United 
States legal system; 
Whereas, from 2006 to 2022, almost 1,400 people were ar-
rested in the United States in relation to the cir-
cumstances or outcomes of their pregnancy, including 
pregnancy loss, and prosecutions overwhelmingly targeted 
people with low incomes, and this trend has only in-
creased since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Or-
ganization decision; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
07:24 Sep 25, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC130.IH
HC130
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
•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 Inter-
national Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 
Racial Discrimination and on August 30, 2022, issued 
recommendations to the United States Government to ad-
dress the profound disparate impact of the Supreme 
Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Or-
ganization on women of racial and ethnic minorities, In-
digenous women and those with low incomes; 
Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Committee re-
viewed the United States’ implementation of the Inter-
national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on Octo-
ber 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 con-
cluding observations express deep concern over the crim-
inalization 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 prosecu-
tion purposes; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:19 Sep 25, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC130.IH
HC130
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
•HCON 130 IH 
Whereas State and local governments play an important role 
in ensuring that the United States complies with its trea-
ty obligations; 
Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Committee called 
on and encouraged State and local lawmakers to uphold 
human rights in their law making and to take specific ac-
tion to ensure that no one is criminalized for a pregnancy 
outcome, nor anyone who provides abortion care or helps 
someone obtain an abortion and that all people can ac-
cess abortion care when they need it; 
Whereas the City of Alexandria, Virginia, enacted a resolu-
tion to expand access to abortion on June 28, 2022, in 
the wake of the Dobbs decision, and the city council held 
a status update meeting to address areas for improve-
ment on June 25, 2024, just after the two-year anniver-
sary of Dobbs, and will seek to proactively address unmet 
needs in the upcoming City budget; 
Whereas Louisiana House Bills 56, 63, 164, and 293 were 
introduced in February 2024, and sought to increase ac-
cess to reproductive health care and committee testimony 
regarding the bills illustrate the human rights concerns 
and obligations that necessitated the passage of these 
bills; 
Whereas Mount Rainier, Maryland, issued a Mayoral Procla-
mation declaring June 24, 2024, as ‘‘Reproductive Rights 
are Human Rights Day’’, a first of its kind effort on a 
local level to protect reproductive freedom as a human 
right; 
Whereas Montgomery County, Maryland, passed a resolution 
to address the Dobbs decision in 2022 and unanimously 
passed a resolution with unanimous support on Sep-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
07:24 Sep 25, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC130.IH
HC130
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
•HCON 130 IH 
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-in-
come people overcome the myriad barriers they face seek-
ing abortion care, and passed a resolution on August 29, 
2024, declaring abortion as a human right, acknowl-
edging 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 con-
demning the chill felt in North Carolina from neighboring 
States that ban abortion and the criminalization of any-
one 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, vol-
untary termination of pregnancy, and sexual and repro-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
07:24 Sep 25, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC130.IH
HC130
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
•HCON 130 IH 
ductive rights and to promote and protect human rights; 
and 
Whereas Louisiana House Bills 56, 63, 164, and 293, the 
City of Mount Rainier Proclamation making June 24th 
Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Day, and the 
resolutions for Austin, Texas, Alexandria, Virginia, Mont-
gomery County, Maryland, and Chapel Hill and 
Carrboro, North Carolina, further efforts to promote 
compliance with the United States’ human rights obliga-
tions under the International Covenant on Civil and Po-
litical Rights, in accordance with Article VI, clause 2 of 
the United States Constitution: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) recognizes the important role that State and 
local governments should play to ensure that the 
United States complies with its treaty obligations; 
(2) condemns the criminalization of abortion 
and the criminalization of any circumstances or out-
comes of a person’s pregnancy in the United States; 
(3) affirms that all people deserve access to 
high-quality health care without fear of punishment; 
(4) affirms that reproductive rights are human 
rights; 
(5) urges the governments of States that im-
pose restrictions harmful to pregnant people to re-
peal those restrictions; and 
(6) urges the government of States— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
07:24 Sep 25, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HC130.IH
HC130
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB