WASHINGTON, DC – Today,U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Patty Murray (D-WA) in reintroducing the Reproductive Healthcare Accessibility Act, legislation to help people with disabilities—who face discrimination and extra barriers when seeking care—receive better access to reproductive healthcare and the informed care they need to control their reproductive lives.
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“For too long, Americans with disabilities have faced persistent barriers to healthcare services, equipment and providers,” said Duckworth. “With right-wing efforts underway to go even further to undermine these rights in the wake of the overturning of Roe, many are rightfully worried about having an even harder time accessing the reproductive care they need. Today, I’m proud to join Senator Murray and my colleagues in reintroducing the Reproductive Healthcare Accessibility Act to help ensure all of us in the disability community are not left behind in getting the care we need, when we need it.”
“People with disabilities have long faced discrimination and real roadblocks to getting the health care, including abortion care, that they need—and it’s become a full-blown crisis in the year after the Dobbs decision overturned the right to abortion, especially for the nearly 3 million disabled women who live in states without access to reproductive health care,” said Murray. “As we continue to fight back against Republicans’ escalating attacks on reproductive health care across the country, there’s so much more we need to do to ensure women and people with disabilities can access high-quality care from providers who understand their unique health care needs. My legislation with Senator Duckworth would make a big difference in helping people with disabilities access the high-quality reproductive care they deserve—and I’ll be fighting to pass it this Congress.”
A recent analysis from the National Partnership for Women & Families found that, one year after the Dobbs decision, more than 36 million women of reproductive age live in states that have or are likely to ban abortion—of these women, 2.9 million are disabled. Women with disabilities are more likely to experience complications during pregnancy, are at Article continues after sponsor message
