I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4303 
To expand access to abortion care. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 22, 2023 
Ms. PRESSLEY (for herself, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. 
BUSH, and Mr. FROST) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Com-
mittees on Ways and Means, the Judiciary, Natural Resources, Armed 
Services, Veterans’ Affairs, Oversight and Accountability, and Foreign 
Affairs, 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 
A BILL 
To expand access to abortion care. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Abortion Justice Act 
of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Abortion care is essential health care that 
should be affordable, available, and supported for ev-
eryone who needs it. 
(2) On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court 
overturned Roe v. Wade and 50 years of legal prece-
dent, and Roe v. Wade was never enough. Without 
the ability to access abortion, the legal right did not 
help many people working to make ends meet, who 
are Black, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, 
Latinx, young people, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, 
disabled people and gender nonconforming people. 
(3) Almost one-third (29 percent) of the total 
United States population of women of reproductive 
age are currently living in States where abortion is 
either unavailable or severely restricted and a dozen 
other States are certain or likely to ban abortion in 
the future. 
(4) Systemic racism, economic insecurity, 
abelism, and a dehumanizing immigration system ex-
acerbate the already-massive barriers to abortion 
care. 
(5) While abortion bans and other legal restric-
tions harm all people who are or may become preg-
nant, they cause even greater harm to those already 
subject to systemic racism and economic injustice. 
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(6) Pregnancy is less safe for some than others 
because of historic and ongoing racism and discrimi-
nation in health care settings, and Black and Indige-
nous individuals face two to three times the risk of 
dying from pregnancy-related causes. Individuals in 
States banning or severely restricting access to abor-
tion care also have worse maternal health outcomes. 
(7) Forced pregnancy is always unconscionable, 
and particularly so for individuals facing heightened 
risk of maternal mortality and morbidity, where 
pregnancy is less safe for some than others because 
of historic and ongoing racism and discrimination in 
health care settings. 
(8) Maternal deaths in 2020 were 62 percent 
higher in States where abortion is heavily restricted 
than in States where abortion was available, and a 
Federal ban on abortion would increase maternal 
mortality by an estimated 24 percent. 
(9) Congress has the authority to act pursuant 
to the commerce clause, the necessary and proper 
clause, and section 5 of the 14th Amendment. 
(10) Attacks on bodily autonomy are not lim-
ited to threats on abortion care. This year alone, 
more than 120 bills have been introduced attacking 
gender-affirming care. States have attempted to out-
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law many forms of birth control, and 15 States have 
near total abortion bans. 
(11) Several State courts have found that abor-
tion restrictions violate the right to bodily autonomy. 
(12) The criminalization of abortion care forces 
people to travel hundreds of miles out of their com-
munity to try to get care. 
(13) As in other forms of criminalization, the 
people targeted for pregnancy loss and self-managed 
abortion prosecution are disproportionately people of 
color, immigrants, and people experiencing economic 
insecurity. 
(14) Throughout the more than 20 years that 
it has been used in the United States, medication 
abortion has been proven to be overwhelmingly safe 
and effective, and has expanded the way people 
choose to self manage their abortion. 
(15) All Food and Drug Administration-ap-
proved drugs must be available in all States and ter-
ritories. 
(16) Research shows that with access to safe, 
effective methods and accurate information, people 
may safely self-manage an abortion on their own. 
Anyone who decides to end a pregnancy should be 
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able to choose to self-manage an abortion at home 
with medical guidance and the support they want. 
(17) Abortion needs to be accessible where peo-
ple live and where they access health care. For 
young adults on college campuses, student health 
centers are often where they access the full range of 
care they need, and medication abortion must be ac-
cessible and available to young adults who get their 
health insurance through their State colleges and 
universities, and three States (Massachusetts, New 
York, and California) have passed laws ensuring ac-
cess to medication abortion on college campuses. 
(18) States have continually crafted legal re-
strictions to ensure that abortion care is burdensome 
or impossible to obtain. This strategy has led to 
more than 1,300 abortion restrictions enacted since 
Roe v. Wade was originally decided in 1973. These 
attacks are rooted in racism and compound the fail-
ures of the health care and economic systems to pro-
vide communities living with low incomes access to 
high-quality, affordable health care, and safe and 
sustainable communities. 
(19) A lack of investment in both telehealth and 
reproductive health care is a significant barrier to an 
equitable experience of telehealth for medication 
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