Republican Lawmakers Push Forward 2 Anti-Abortion Bills

Republicans in Congress are starting this year just like they did last year: pushing anti-abortion legislation.

House Republicans approved a pair of anti-choice bills on Thursday — one day before the anti-abortion March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., which House Speaker Mike Johnson ® is headlining, and just days before what would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Both proposals are likely to die in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

At first glance, both bills appear to help pregnant people and newborns. The Pregnant Students’ Rights Act purports to ensure certain rights and resources to pregnant students on college campuses, and the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act seeks to use federal funds toward pregnancy centers that support mothers and newborns.

In reality, both bills are full of anti-choice rhetoric and misinformation that Republicans have used time and time again to quietly roll back the rights of people with the capacity for pregnancy.

The bill to protect pregnant students only promises to offer resources to those who carry the pregnancy to term, and it assumes that students experiencing an unplanned pregnancy face pressure “to receive an abortion or risk academic failure.” The proposed legislation also lists several lies used by the anti-choice movement, including that abortion causes breast cancer and harms women’s mental health. Both points have been disproven by medical professionals , and research shows that 95% of women who have abortions felt their decision was the right one for them.

The second bill approved by House Republicans is more dangerous than the first. Spearheaded by Republican Rep. Michelle Fishbach (Minn.), the legislation seeks to block a new