Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement on the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill she co-sponsored that would protect women’s constitutional right to access health care without interference by state governments, many of which have recently enacted laws inconsistent with standard medical practices.

“In recent years, dozens of states have introduced laws that are allegedly intended to protect the health of women and children but have actually undermined their health, by imposing restrictions on  access to abortions. These laws are unrelated to any genuine concern for the health of women. Rather, such laws are an attempt by politicians – primarily men – to undermine the rights of women, particularly the right of women to obtain, in consultation with licensed professionals, the best health care available. With the Women’s Health Protection Act, we will eliminate these laws, and finally restore the basic right of all women in the United States to the choice – the same choice men have – to their own decisions about health care.”

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.