•HCON 65 IH 
are universal and that every level of government must en-
sure that these rights are upheld in law, policy, and prac-
tice; 
Whereas, on December 4, 2025, the city of Austin, Texas 
issued a mayoral proclamation declaring December 10 as 
‘‘Human Rights Day’’ and aligning itself with its human 
rights obligations under the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights, the International Convention on the 
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and 
the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhu-
man or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, in accord-
ance with clause 2 of article VI of the United States Con-
stitution, as well as elevating the egregious human rights 
violations occurring in Texas each day, including the 
mass and illegal detention and deportation scheme that 
suspends the human rights of migrants, the systemic in-
justices of the criminal legal system, the expansion of the 
‘‘terrorism’’ framework and vast surveillance infrastruc-
ture used to repress expression, the regression on repro-
ductive rights and bodily autonomy, and the criminaliza-
tion of homelessness and poverty; 
Whereas, on December 4, 2025, the city of Baltimore passed 
a resolution recognizing December 10 as ‘‘Human Rights 
Day’’, reaffirming the City Council’s commitment to 
aligning its policy with the human rights obligations of 
international law and calling on all city agencies, organi-
zations, and residents to reaffirm their commitment to 
the fundamental rights and intrinsic worth of all human 
beings, and reaffirming its commitment to protecting its 
citizens’ reproductive rights and committing to sup-
porting measures to ensure access to abortion, family 
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•HCON 65 IH 
planning, labor and delivery care, miscarriage manage-
ment, pre- and post-natal care, and all other reproductive 
health services regardless of background; 
Whereas, on September 11 and 12, 2024, the city councils 
of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North Carolina, introduced 
and passed resolutions 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, on June 28, 2022, the city of Alexandria, Virginia, 
enacted a resolution to expand access to abortion in the 
wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organiza-
tion decision, and the city council held a status update 
meeting to address areas for improvement on June 25, 
2024, just after the 2-year anniversary of the Dobbs v. 
Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling; 
Whereas Louisiana House bills 56, 63, 164, and 293 were in-
troduced in February 2024 and sought to increase access 
to reproductive health care, and committee testimony re-
garding the bills illustrated 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, and passed a resolution declaring the same on Oc-
tober 1, 2024; 
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•HCON 65 IH 
Whereas Montgomery County, Maryland, passed a resolution 
to address the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Orga-
nization decision in 2022 and passed a resolution with 
unanimous support on September 10, 2024, to increase 
access to abortion in the country and to explicitly con-
demn the criminalization of anyone for a pregnancy out-
come or the criminalization of anyone for a circumstance 
surrounding their pregnancy; 
Whereas the city of Baltimore, Maryland, passed a resolution 
on September 30, 2024, affirming Baltimore’s commit-
ment to reproductive rights and support for the Maryland 
constitutional amendment to ensure access to abortion, 
family planning, labor and delivery care, miscarriage 
management, prenatal and postnatal care, and all other 
reproductive health services regardless of background; 
Whereas Governor Wes Moore signed a proclamation enshrin-
ing in law the fundamental right to reproductive freedom 
into the Maryland State constitution on January 17, 
2025; 
Whereas the City Council of Austin, Texas, has invested over 
$400,000 in support of 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 Carrboro, North Carolina; Baltimore, Maryland; 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Fulton County, Georgia 
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•HCON 65 IH 
resolutions referred to in this preamble, as well as the 
Austin, Texas, and Mount Rainer, Maryland, proclama-
tions declaring December 10 as ‘‘Human Rights Day’’ re-
flect State and local efforts to address recommendations 
made by the United Nations Human Rights Committee 
on maternal mortality, voluntary termination of preg-
nancy, and sexual and reproductive rights, and to pro-
mote and protect human rights; and 
Whereas Louisiana House bills 56, 63, 164, and 293, the city 
of Mount Rainier, Maryland, proclamation and resolution 
making June 24, 2024, ‘‘Reproductive Rights are Human 
Rights Day’’, and resolutions for Austin, Texas, Mont-
gomery County, Maryland, Alexandria, Virginia, Balti-
more, Maryland, and Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North 
Carolina, reflect State and local efforts to address rec-
ommendations made by the United Nations Human 
Rights Committee on maternal mortality, voluntary ter-
mination of pregnancy, and sexual and reproductive 
rights, and to promote and protect human rights: 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; 
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(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 governments of States— 
(A) to repeal State laws that criminalize 
abortion; 
(B) to prohibit the prosecution of people 
for having abortions or for any other cir-
cumstances or outcomes of their pregnancies; 
and 
(C) to protect and guarantee human 
rights. 
Æ 
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