Manchin Supports Bipartisan Effort to Codify Roe V. Wade

Manchin Supports Bipartisan Effort to Codify Roe V. Wade

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) cosponsored the bipartisan Reproductive Freedom For All Act, which would codify the essential holdings of Roe v. Wade and related cases to protect women's abilities to make their own health care decisions. The legislation is in response to Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.

"The Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs abandoned over 50 years of established legal precedent. A majority of Americans support the balanced protections established under Roe v. Wade, and it's our jobto represent the will of the people. Our sensible legislation, the Reproductive Freedom For All Act, would reinstate the fundamental protections women held for five decades. It strikes a commonsense balance between radically different viewpoints on access to reproductive health services and neither expands nor restricts what had been the law of the land. While I will always consider myself pro-life, we cannot take away a woman's basic right to make her own health care decisions, and I am hopeful Republicans and Democrats will come together to see this important, bipartisan legislation across the finish line," said Senator Manchin.

In addition to Senator Manchin, the legislation is cosponsored by Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Susan Collins (R-ME).

The Reproductive Freedom For All Act would:

• Prohibit state regulations that impose an undue burden on a woman's access to pre-viability abortions, while allowing states to enact reasonable restrictions on post-viability abortions - provided that states cannot ban abortions that are necessary to protect the life or health of the mother;
• Protect access to contraceptives; and
• Preserve conscience protections.

The full text of the legislation is available here.