Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HCR18 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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22 119THCONGRESS
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44 STSESSION H. CON. RES. 18
55 Expressing support for the recognition of March 10, 2025, as ‘‘Abortion
66 Provider Appreciation Day’’.
77 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
88 MARCH10, 2025
99 Ms. P
1010 RESSLEY(for herself, Ms. WILLIAMSof Georgia, Mr. GOLDMANof New
1111 York, Mrs. R
1212 AMIREZ, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. SWALWELL,
1313 Mr. J
1414 OHNSONof Georgia, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. NADLER, and Ms. NOR-
1515 TON) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred
1616 to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Com-
1717 mittee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by
1818 the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
1919 in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
2020 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
2121 Expressing support for the recognition of March 10, 2025,
2222 as ‘‘Abortion Provider Appreciation Day’’.
2323 Whereas March 10 has been established as a day to show ap-
2424 preciation for the essential, high-quality care that abor-
2525 tion providers and all staff provide to their communities
2626 and those traveling to their communities, and to celebrate
2727 their courage, compassion, and dedication to their work;
2828 Whereas March 10 was selected for ‘‘Abortion Provider Ap-
2929 preciation Day’’ in honor of Dr. David Gunn, who was
3030 killed on March 10, 1993, outside his abortion clinic in
3131 Pensacola, Florida, by a White supremacist and anti-
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3434 •HCON 18 IH
3535 abortion extremist in the first known instance of the
3636 murder of an abortion provider;
3737 Whereas abortions are provided in-person and through tele-
3838 health by facilities such as independent clinics, Planned
3939 Parenthood health care centers, hospitals, and private of-
4040 fices of doctors, and all of the staff working at those fa-
4141 cilities are essential to ensuring patients receive needed
4242 care;
4343 Whereas, on June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of the
4444 United States erroneously overturned Roe v. Wade, 410
4545 U.S. 113 (1973), in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health
4646 Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022) (referred to in this
4747 preamble as ‘‘the Dobbs decision’’), reversing decades of
4848 legal precedent affirming the right to an abortion and
4949 unleashing devastation on an already precarious abortion
5050 access landscape;
5151 Whereas States across the United States have moved to re-
5252 strict access to abortion care, and 19 States have banned
5353 some or all access to an abortion as of March 2025;
5454 Whereas, because of State abortion bans and restrictions,
5555 scores of clinics and health care centers in already under-
5656 served areas and maternal health deserts have closed,
5757 forcing more patients to remain pregnant against their
5858 will or to travel out-of-State for abortion care, increasing
5959 wait times, straining already thin resources, and pushing
6060 people farther and farther away from their homes;
6161 Whereas abortion providers and all staff play a critical role
6262 in a world where it has become increasingly difficult for
6363 individuals to receive essential and time-sensitive care
6464 once those individuals have made decisions that are right
6565 for their bodies, lives, and futures;
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6868 •HCON 18 IH
6969 Whereas abortion providers and all staff help to ensure that
7070 all individuals who can become pregnant can make their
7171 own decisions about their bodies and their pregnancies,
7272 and support the decisions of their patients by treating
7373 them with dignity, empathy, compassion, and respect, de-
7474 spite numerous challenges due to abortion bans and re-
7575 strictions;
7676 Whereas abortion providers and all staff play an essential
7777 role within the reproductive justice framework, which was
7878 created by 12 Black women in 1994, who formulated a
7979 human rights framework that demands every person has
8080 the human right to bodily autonomy, which includes the
8181 right to choose if, when, and how to have children and
8282 the right to parent children in safe and sustainable com-
8383 munities;
8484 Whereas individuals seeking abortion care across the United
8585 States also rely on the work of abortion funds and prac-
8686 tical support organizations to access abortion care for
8787 themselves and their families;
8888 Whereas abortion funds and practical support organizations
8989 that rely on donations face increasing demand following
9090 the Dobbs decision as individuals are forced to travel
9191 longer distances, find childcare or lodging, and raise
9292 money to cover the ever-increasing costs of an abortion
9393 and wraparound support;
9494 Whereas the network of abortion funds, clinics, providers,
9595 and supporters that work to ensure access to abortion is
9696 being strained beyond capacity;
9797 Whereas restrictions on abortion care have far-reaching con-
9898 sequences that deepen existing inequities and worsen
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101101 •HCON 18 IH
102102 health outcomes for pregnant people, people giving birth,
103103 and their families;
104104 Whereas people who are denied abortion care are more likely
105105 to experience high blood pressure and other serious med-
106106 ical conditions during the end of pregnancy, remain in re-
107107 lationships where interpersonal violence is present, and
108108 experience poverty;
109109 Whereas research shows that States that have more abortion
110110 restrictions are also States that have poorer maternal
111111 health outcomes;
112112 Whereas the effects of the Dobbs decision were immediate
113113 and disastrous, with 12 States completely banning access
114114 to abortion care as of March 2025;
115115 Whereas more than 25,000,000 women of reproductive age,
116116 plus more trans and nonbinary people, do not have access
117117 to abortion where they live;
118118 Whereas restricting and banning access to abortion care—
119119 (1) limits the ability of current and future providers
120120 to obtain necessary education and training in abortion
121121 care;
122122 (2) exposes the remaining abortion providers and all
123123 staff to increased levels of harassment, violence, and po-
124124 litically motivated restrictions; and
125125 (3) creates and increases the out-of-pocket costs and
126126 logistical burdens that patients face to get care to a level
127127 that is sometimes insurmountable, forcing patients to re-
128128 main pregnant;
129129 Whereas the 2022 Violence and Disruption Report of the Na-
130130 tional Abortion Federation found an alarming escalation
131131 in incidents of obstruction, vandalism, and trespassing at
132132 abortion clinics, with abortion providers reporting an
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135135 •HCON 18 IH
136136 alarming rate of death threats and threats of harm, and
137137 documented 218 of such incidents in 2022;
138138 Whereas Black, indigenous, and other providers and patients
139139 of color face heightened levels of threats, harassment,
140140 and violence as compared to their White counterparts;
141141 Whereas the current administration has emboldened individ-
142142 uals and groups to continue to harass and threaten the
143143 ability of abortion providers and all staff to serve their
144144 patients;
145145 Whereas the Dobbs decision has emboldened antiabortion in-
146146 dividuals and groups to continue to harass providers and
147147 the patients they care for;
148148 Whereas the Dobbs decision threatens the ability of abortion
149149 providers and all staff to serve their patients; and
150150 Whereas, in the face of multifaceted attacks on their work,
151151 abortion providers remain an essential and valued part of
152152 their communities, providing high-quality, compassionate,
153153 and necessary health care, and courageously delivering
154154 that care despite pressures, restrictions, political inter-
155155 ference, and violent threats to their personal safety: Now,
156156 therefore, be it
157157 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 1
158158 concurring), That Congress— 2
159159 (1) recognizes ‘‘Abortion Provider Appreciation 3
160160 Day’’ to celebrate the courage, compassion, and 4
161161 high-quality care that abortion providers and staff 5
162162 offer to patients and their families across the United 6
163163 States; 7
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166166 •HCON 18 IH
167167 (2) lauds communities across the United States 1
168168 who are proud to be home to abortion providers and 2
169169 staff; 3
170170 (3) affirms the commitment of Congress to en-4
171171 suring the safety of abortion providers, the ability of 5
172172 abortion providers to continue providing the essen-6
173173 tial care their patients need, and the right of pa-7
174174 tients to access abortion care no matter where they 8
175175 live, free from fear of violence, criminalization, or 9
176176 stigma; 10
177177 (4) condemns the decisions of the Supreme 11
178178 Court of the United States, as well as the actions of 12
179179 the current administration and antiabortion extrem-13
180180 ists, to limit and stigmatize abortion care, which has 14
181181 had a devastating impact on abortion providers and 15
182182 the communities they care for, threatening the work 16
183183 and livelihoods of providers and staff, and worsening 17
184184 the strain on providers who work in States where 18
185185 abortion is still available; and 19
186186 (5) declares a vision for a future liberated from 20
187187 all abortion restrictions and bans, where everyone 21
188188 has full access to the care they need without fear of 22
189189 penalty or stigma, and affirms the commitment of 23
190190 Congress to working toward that goal in partnership 24
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193193 •HCON 18 IH
194194 with providers, patients, advocates, and their com-1
195195 munities. 2
196196 Æ
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