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One Year After Dobbs, Hirono joins Colleagues, Health Care Providers in Releasing Report On How Republican Efforts to Limit Abortion Care Threaten Women’s Health

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nearly one year after the Supreme Court ruled to ignore 50 years of precedent and overturn Roe v. Wade, stripping away the constitutional right to abortion, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) in releasing a new report: One Year Without Roe: Health Care Providers Speak Out on Criminalized Care and Compounding Confusion. The 14-page report—based on testimony received from leading health care providers—reveals the direct, immediate threats to women’s reproductive health and concludes that “the landscape of abortion access in the U.S. is bleak and growing bleaker.”

“This report illustrates the disturbing health care crisis that communities across the country are facing as a result of MAGA Republicans’ obsession with stripping women of their fundamental right to reproductive care,” said Senator Hirono. “One year after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, the fight to protect the right to bodily autonomy continues. While far-right lawmakers attempt to exert control over our lives and our bodies, I will continue fighting to protect and strengthen reproductive freedom for all.”

The key findings of the report include:

One Year after Dobbs, Abortion Access Has Been Nearly Eliminated in Large Portions of the Nation – Even in States Previously Considered Havens for Care.

  • Since June 2022, 19 states have imposed extreme laws to ban or severely restrict abortion, limiting access not only to abortion care, but also to pregnancy care, miscarriage care, and more.
  • As a result of abortion bans enacted this year, the closest abortion provider for patients in some parts of the country is over 800 miles away.

Legal Attacks on Abortion, including Medication Abortion, Proliferate Widespread Confusion Among Patients and Providers and Sow Misinformation.

  • Overly broad and sloppily drafted state laws to ban or severely restrict abortion have led to chaos and confusion for both patients and providers.
  • Providers have been left “in a position where they are unable to efficiently provide needed health care services to their patients.”

Anti-Abortion Activists are Threatening to Upend the Entire Drug Regulatory System to Remove Mifepristone from the Market.

  • Republican state legislatures in 28 states – including 15 states where abortion is legal – have imposed bans or restrictions that prevent Americans from accessing medication abortion.
  • There is no question: removing mifepristone from the market entirely is an additional step towards a national abortion ban.

Threats of Criminalization and Violence Hurt Health Care Workers and Risk Women’s Ability to Obtain Care.

  • Health care providers are facing increased threats of prosecution and workplace violence, interfering with their ability to meet their medical and ethical duties to put patient health and well-being first.
  • Coupled with the misinformation and confusion surrounding medication abortion, ongoing threats of violence and steep criminal and civil penalties are significantly impeding providers’ ability to care for their patients. 

The full text of the report is available here.

A long-time champion for abortion access, Senator Hirono is committed to protecting the fundamental right to abortion care for all. Senator Hirono’s steps on securing abortion access and reproductive health care include:

  • In June 2023, Senator Hirono reintroduced the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, legislation that would block anti-choice states from limiting travel for abortion services and empower the Attorney General and impacted individuals to bring civil action against those who restrict a woman’s right to cross state lines to receive legal reproductive care.
  • In June 2023, Senator Hirono reintroduced the Right to Contraception Act, legislation that would codify and strengthen the right to contraception, which the Supreme Court first recognized more than half a century ago in Griswold v. Connecticut.
  • In May 2023, Senator Hirono reintroduced the Affordability is Access Act to help ensure that once the FDA approves an over-the-counter birth control option, insurers must fully cover over-the-counter birth control without any out-of-pocket costs.
  • In May 2023, Senator Hirono led the reintroduction of the My Body, My Data Act, legislation to create a new national standard to protect reproductive and sexual health data by minimizing the information collected and retained, and preventing that information from being disclosed or misused.
  • In May 2023, Senator Hirono introduced the Access to Contraception for Servicemembers and Dependents Act, bipartisan legislation to ensure military families receive the quality reproductive healthcare they deserve.
  • In April 2023, Senator Hirono voted against a Republican-led effort that would overrule the Department of Veterans Affairs’ interim rule on reproductive healthcare. The rule, which was issued after the Supreme Court’s disastrous Dobbs decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, affirms the VA’s legal authority to provide abortion services in cases of rape, incest, and the life or health of the patient.
  • In March 2023, Senator Hirono reintroduced the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act, a bicameral bill that would help guarantee abortion coverage–without restrictions–for millions of Americans.
  • In March 2023, Senator Hirono reintroduced the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, which would repeal the 1973 Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act to ensure that U.S. foreign assistance may be used to provide the full scope of comprehensive health care, including safe and legal access to abortion services.
  • In March 2023, Senator Hirono led the reintroduction of the Abortion Provider Appreciation Day Resolution, a bicameral congressional resolution honoring abortion providers and clinic staff.
  • In March 2023, Senator Hirono introduced the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2023, federal legislation to guarantee access to abortion, everywhere across the country and restore the right to comprehensive reproductive health care for millions of Americans.
  • In March 2023, Senator Hirono led her colleagues in pushing to prevent local and state law enforcement from using federal assistance to surveil or investigate individuals receiving or providing abortion care.
  • In February 2023, Senator Hirono introduced the Secure Access for Essential Reproductive (SAFER) Health Act, legislation that would expand patient privacy protections by strengthening HIPAA to prohibit medical providers from disclosing personal health information related to abortion or pregnancy loss without patient consent.
  • In February 2023, Senator Hirono led her colleagues in sending a letter to Danco Laboratories, a manufacturer of mifepristone, urging them to submit an application to the FDA to add miscarriage management to the medication’s label–which currently only includes medication abortion, but can also be safely and legally used for miscarriage management.
  • In September 2022, Senator Hirono also urged the Biden administration to take new steps to protect reproductive freedom amidst divided control of Congress and increasing efforts to restrict access to abortion.
  • In August 2022, she introduced the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act to protect doctors against Republicans’ non-stop attacks and ensure they can safely provide abortion care in states where it is still legal.
  • In August 2022, Senator Hirono also led a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services urging them to make medication abortion more easily accessible.
  • In July 2022, Senator Hirono introduced the Right to Contraception Act, as well as the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act, to protect access to critical reproductive health care services, like birth control, and cancer screenings.
  • In July 2022, Senator Hirono introduced the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act of 2022, which clarifies that it is illegal for anti-choice states to limit travel for abortion services, and would empower impacted individuals to bring civil action against those who restrict an individual’s right to cross state lines to receive legal reproductive care. 
  • In July 2022, she also led her colleagues in calling on the VA to begin offering abortion services following the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Secretary McDonough then announced that VA would heed that call and begin offering abortion services in cases of rape, incest, or the life and health of the mother.
  • In July 2022, she also called upon the Department of Veterans Affairs to take immediate administrative action to offer abortions and all abortion-related services to veterans and eligible dependents.
  • In June 2022, she introduced the Affordability is Access Act to help ensure that people across the country can access and afford over-the-counter birth control options and plan their own reproductive lives, on their own terms.
  • In July 2022, she introduced the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, which would repeal the 1973 Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act to ensure that U.S. foreign assistance may be used to provide the full scope of comprehensive health care, including safe and legal access to abortion services.
  • In June 2022, Senator Hirono also introduced the My Body, My Data Act, legislation to protect personal reproductive health data by minimizing the information collected and retained, and preventing that information from being disclosed or misused; the bill would protect reproductive health data from sources like fertility tracking apps.
  • In March 2022, Senator Hirono introduced legislation to expand protections for Americans’ personal health data privacy following reports that have shown social media companies are collecting and data brokers are selling location data that could be used to identify individuals seeking reproductive health care services.
  • In March 2022, she led the first introduction of the Abortion Provider Appreciation Day Resolution. 

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