Heinrich, Luján Announce Introduction of Legislation to Restore Abortion Access Nationwide 

Introduction of the Women's Health Protection Act comes as Trump and Congressional Republicans move to restrict a woman's right to choose and toward a national abortion ban

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) joined the entire Senate Democratic caucus in introducing the Women's Health Protection Act of 2025, legislation to guarantee access to abortion everywhere across the country and restore the right to comprehensive reproductive health care for millions of Americans.  The introduction of this legislation comes as the Trump Administration further attacks a woman's right to choose and Congressional Republicans seek to effectively defund Planned Parenthood. Put together, Trump and Congressional Republicans' assault on Americans' reproductive rights is a backdoor national abortion ban, ripping away millions of women's access to health care and the right to control their bodies across the country, including in New Mexico. 

"While abortion care remains legal in New Mexico, providers here have faced severe strains in the post-Dobbs landscape as thousands of women are forced to travel from neighboring states that have outlawed or restricted abortion access. A woman has the right to make her own healthcare decisions without politicians inserting themselves between her and her doctors. That right should not depend on the state she lives in, and the majority of Americans agree," said Heinrich. "Yet Congressional Republicans are doubling down on a national abortion ban, blocking women from making choices about their own bodies and seeking to criminalize doctors and nurses. I trust women to make their own decisions on what's best for themselves and their families, and I will never stop fighting to restore the right to abortion nationwide by passing the Women's Health Protection Act."

"When the Senate last considered the Women's Health Protection Act, not a single Senate Republican voted to protect reproductive rights. Their position could not be clearer. Senate Democrats stand with the majority of Americans who support Roe, and we will keep fighting to restore and protect reproductive rights,"said Luján. "These relentless attacks from the Trump administration, Congressional Republicans, and the Supreme Court put the most vulnerable at risk and turn back the clock on progress. We will not back down."

President Trump appointed the Supreme Court Justices who ruled in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case to overturn Roe v. Wade and nearly 50 years of precedent. Since the Dobbs decision, The Guttmacher Institute indicates 28 states have abortion bans based on gestational duration, 12 states have a total abortion ban, and only 9 states do not restrict abortion on the basis of gestational duration. , leaving one in three American women without access to safe, legal abortion care. Additionally, state legislatures across the country have introduced hundreds of bills to include medically unnecessary restrictions that limit access to abortion care.

In his second term, President Trump has continued to relentlessly attack reproductive rights, including by freezing Title X funding for health clinics that offer reproductive care, cutting Biden-era emergency abortion protections, pardoning anti-abortion extremists, and fighting to defund Planned Parenthood.

The Women's Health Protection Act would create federal rights for patients and providers and protect abortion access. Specifically, the Women's Health Protection Act would:

Prohibit states from imposing restrictions that jeopardize access to abortion earlier in pregnancy, including many of the state-level restrictions in place prior to Dobbs, such as arbitrary waiting periods, medically unnecessary mandatory ultrasounds, or requirements to provide medically inaccurate information.

Ensure that later in pregnancy, states cannot limit access to abortion if it would jeopardize the life or health of the mother.

Protect the ability to travel out of state for an abortion, which has become increasingly common in recent years.

The legislation is sponsored by the entire Democratic caucus, including Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

Full text of the bill is available here. A one-pager on the bill is available here.

Last week, Heinrich announced he co-sponsored the Veteran Families Health Services Act, legislation to make it easier for veterans who struggle with infertility to build their families. Specifically, the bill will expand fertility treatments and family-building services covered under servicemembers' and veterans' health care to include — among other things — in vitro fertilization (IVF) and adoption assistance for servicemembers and veterans who are unable to conceive without assistance. The legislation also includes an option for individuals to freeze their eggs or sperm ahead of deployment to a combat zone.

In June, Heinrich co-sponsored the Protect IVF Act, legislation to establish a nationwide right to IVF. Specifically, the bill will create a statutory right for patients to access IVF services, a right for doctors to provide IVF treatment in accordance with medical standards as well as a right for insurance carriers to cover IVF without prohibition, limitation, interference or impediment. By establishing a statutory right, this would preempt any effort to limit such access and help ensure no hopeful parent — or their doctors — are punished for trying to start or grow a family.