On the third anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, House Democrats reintroduced the Women’s Health Protection Act, a federal bill aimed at restoring nationwide access to abortion care.
The legislation comes as states like Alabama continue to enforce total abortion bans that have impacted reproductive health care across the South.
The WHPA, reintroduced Tuesday, would establish federal statutory rights to abortion services by prohibiting state-level bans and medically unnecessary restrictions. Since the Dobbs ruling in 2022, Alabama has operated under one of the strictest abortion laws in the country.
The Human Life Protection Act, which took effect immediately after the ruling, bans abortion at any stage of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest. Physicians who perform abortions in Alabama face felony charges carrying sentences up to 10 years unless the procedure is deemed necessary to prevent serious health risks to the mother.
U.S. Representative Terri Sewell, D-Alabama, responded to the House Democrats reintroducing WHPA in a statement on X.
“We’ve seen Republican officials criminalize health care services, target IVF, and even threaten to punish doctors and nurses for providing care,” Sewell said. “People—NOT politicians—should be free to make their own health care decisions!”
Sewell has been a vocal critic of Alabama’s near-total ban, calling it a direct attack on women’s rights and an example of government overreach into private medical decisions. In Alabama, where no member of the GOP congressional delegation has spoken in favor of federal protections, the divide is stark.
Since 2022, the effects of Alabama’s law have extended beyond abortion. Doctors and hospitals have reported uncertainty about how to treat pregnancy complications within the new law’s scope, and some residents are forced to travel out of state for care.
Alabama Supreme Court rulings also prompted concerns about the future of in vitro fertilization services in Alabama, after the court extended legal protections to frozen embryos.
The WHPA has previously passed the House but failed in the Senate. It faces steep odds in a divided Congress, but its reintroduction represents a continued push to legislate abortion access at the federal level.
In states like Alabama, where reproductive care has been dismantled, the bill is viewed as one of the few remaining pathways to restore access.
