WASHINGTON — One year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and stripped women of a fundamental constitutional right, Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) called for the restoration of abortion rights and joined legislation to protect and expand access to reproductive health care, including the Women’s Health Protection Act, the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, and the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act.  

“The choice to have an abortion is a personal one—it should belong to women, plain and simple. When it overturned Roe, the Supreme Court put that choice in the hands of judges and legislators, not women and their families. It’s an outrage,” said Sen. Welch. “Your reproductive rights shouldn’t be at the whim of who’s on the bench or who controls your state legislature. They should be consistent, codified, and universal. These bills take steps to rectify the injustice of the Dobbs decision and provide stronger protections for reproductive health care. I’m proud to join my colleagues to continue the fight for abortion rights and to support these important pieces of legislation.” 

The Women’s Health Protection Act would codify the right to access abortion care in the United States, overruling the bans implemented in 14 states following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center and ensuring every woman can access abortion care, regardless of her zip code. For more information on the Women’s Health Protection Act, please click here.  

The Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act would ensure that anti-choice states cannot limit travel for abortion services. This essential change would allow women from states where abortion is banned or restricted to continue to seek abortion care in Vermont and other states where abortion remains legal. For more information on the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, please click here. 

The Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act would provide legal protections for abortion providers in Vermont and other states where abortion remains legal and ensure their efforts to practice cannot be restricted by laws passed in other states. For more information on the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act, please click here. 

Sen. Welch is also a co-sponsor of the Affordability is Access Act of 2023, the EACH Act of 2023, and the SAFER Health Act of 2023.  

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