IV 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 1411 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES August 6, 2024 Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Ms. DeGette , Ms. Wilson of Florida , Ms. Underwood , Ms. Kamlager-Dove , and Mr. Evans ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce , and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary , 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 RESOLUTION Recognizing July 2024 as the 30th anniversary of the reproductive justice movement to raise awareness around the history of reproductive justice and honor the foremothers of the reproductive justice movement, build a world in which Black girls and gender expansive people, as well as all Americans marginalized by their race, class, or gender, are free from systems of reproductive oppression of their bodies, sexuality, labor, and reproduction.

Whereas, 30 years ago, in 1994, a trailblazing group of Black women came together to advance a health agenda centered on the unique concerns and lived experiences of women and girls of color, especially Black women and girls, who faced longstanding health disparities, including higher rates of infant and maternal mortality and morbidity, breast cancer, fibroids, gender-based violence, and HIV/AIDS; Whereas they coined this vision to be reproductive justice , building on concepts of reproductive rights, social justice, and human rights as a way of centering the specific lived experiences of Black women; Whereas reproductive justice offers a human rights framework that affirms the right to not have a child, the right to have a child, the right to the social and economic supports to parent one’s children, free from violence, and the right to bodily autonomy and sexual expression; Whereas the foremothers of the reproductive justice movement helped the Nation to understand that Black women know what it means to lead communities and lead movements, while struggling for basic equality, social justice, and human rights; Whereas reproductive justice seeks to address bans and restrictions on reproductive health, including abortion, that have perpetuated systems of oppression, lack of bodily autonomy, White supremacy, and anti-Black racism, all rooted in systems resulting the enslavement, rape, and experimentation of Black people, forced sterilizations, medical experimentation on low-income women’s reproductive systems, and the forcible removal of indigenous children; Whereas Black women and gender expansive Black people are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women in the United States; Whereas studies show that when Black women suffer from severe injuries or pregnancy complications or simply ask for assistance, they are often dismissed or ignored in the health care settings that are supposed to care for them; Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States upended nearly 50 years of its own precedent and issued a majority opinion in Dobbs v. Women’s Health Organization that overturned the constitutional right to abortion care enshrined by Roe v. Wade and continues to disproportionately impact Black women and girls, who are more likely to lack economic resources, to be unemployed and uninsured, and to be insured by programs that restrict coverage for abortion care; Whereas the Black LGBTQIA+ community experiences disproportionate levels of homelessness, poverty, and unemployment and a crisis of violence against Black transgender women and girls; Whereas, too often, Black families lack access to jobs with a living wage, safe and secure housing, accessible transportation, and affordable, healthy food; Whereas Black families bear the brunt of environmental injustices like air and water pollution, which worsen health outcomes, and the burden of law enforcement officials operating with unfair and unjust biases, which can be fatal; and Whereas Black women are the largest voting constituency in the United States electorate: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1) honors the 30th anniversary of the founding of the reproductive justice movement; (2) acknowledges a history of institutional racism, inhumanity, and inequality of access to information, services, and supports, especially for Black women, girls, and LGTBQI+ individuals, and recognizes that the mission of reproductive justice can help to continue to remedy this history, as we fight to fully realize the promise of these United States; (3) acknowledges the right to bodily autonomy rooted in the liberty doctrine of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, established during the Reconstruction era to ensure all Americans, including enslaved Americans—Black Americans—had a fundamental right to life, liberty, and property, free from forced labor, forced abortion, and forced pregnancy; (4) supports the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Healthcare (EACH) Act’s policies of repealing the Hyde Amendment to guarantee abortion coverage regardless of a patient’s health insurance status or ZIP Code; (5) supports the American Rescue Plan’s policies to address racial disparities in maternal and child health outcomes and give States the option to provide a full year of postpartum coverage to women on Medicaid, increasing it from just 60 days previously; (6) recognizes a long history of reproductive injustice fueled by systemic racism and bias; (7) supports a whole-of-government approach to make even progress in reproductive health inequities, including through the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis; (8) supports the ability to parent one’s child in a safe and secure environment, with all necessary socioeconomic support and without any form of violence; (9) encourages public officials, educators, librarians, public health officers, health care workers, and all the people of the United States to raise awareness around the history of reproductive justice and observe this anniversary; (10) commits to advancing policy that will build a world in which Black girls and gender expansive people, as well as all Americans marginalized by their race, class, or gender, are free from systems of reproductive oppression of their bodies, sexuality, labor, and reproduction; (11) affirms that voting rights is a reproductive justice issue, and access to the ballot box is central to protecting reproductive health, rights, and justice in localities and States across the country; and (12) recognizes that reproductive justice calls on governments and society to ensure conditions exist for each individual in the United States and across the world to realize reproductive justice values.