YourVoice.Now Summary
Your MoneyWorkers & JobsCivil LibertiesCriminal Justice & Due ProcessTransparency & AccountabilityWould create a federal right to abortion before viability — state bans and extra clinic visit rules would stop applying.
Your Money
Some states require a separate in-person visit before an abortion. Visits that are not medically needed could not be required, which can mean one trip instead of two.
Only tests that fit standard medical guidelines could be required before or after an abortion. Patients would not pay for extra tests a state adds.
Workers & Jobs
A provider facing a state license action over abortion care could raise this law as a defense. Ordinary licensing rules would still apply.
Civil Liberties
Section 5 gives patients a right to end a pregnancy before viability, and providers a right to offer it. Any state or local law that conflicts could not be enforced.
States could not single out abortion medication or video visits for special limits. Rules that apply to all drugs or all telehealth would still hold.
After viability, care stays protected when the treating doctor finds the pregnancy risks the patient's life or health. States could allow more than that, but not less.
Section 6 spells out a right to cross state lines for care, including abortion. Driving, paying for, or otherwise helping someone travel would also be protected.
States could not require a patient to say why they want an abortion. Bans tied to the patient's reason could not be enforced either.
Some states let private citizens sue anyone who helps with an abortion. Those private enforcers would be treated as state officials, so this law would block them.
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 normally lets people ask for a religious exemption from a federal law. Section 7 says it could not be used against this act.
Criminal Justice & Due Process
States could not enforce penalties on patients, providers, or helpers that conflict with this law. Anyone charged could raise the law as a defense.
Transparency & Accountability
Any patient or provider hurt by a restriction could sue the official who enforces it. A court could block the rule before it is used against anyone.
The U.S. Attorney General could bring a federal case against a state or an official that enforces a banned restriction.
Courts would have to award legal fees and costs to plaintiffs who win. If you lose, you would not owe the state's costs, unless the case was groundless.
States normally have immunity from many lawsuits. Section 9 removes that shield for cases brought under this law, so a state could be sued directly.
More about this bill
If you live in a state that bans abortion, that ban would stop applying. You would have a federal right to end a pregnancy up to the point of viability. Viability means the treating doctor judges the fetus could survive outside the womb. Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists would have a matching right to provide that care. State and local rules that conflict would no longer be enforced. The change would start the day the bill became law. Several common state rules would no longer apply. A clinic could not be forced to make you visit twice for one abortion. Tests that are not standard care could not be required. Abortion pills could be prescribed by video visit, even where a state bars that now. States could not ask why you want an abortion. They could not turn you away because you live in another state. You could travel elsewhere for care, and help someone else do the same. Insurance rules would not change, so what you pay out of pocket may stay the same. Courts would do the enforcing. The U.S. Attorney General could sue a state that breaks these rules. Patients and providers could also sue state officials on their own. People who win these cases would get their legal costs paid. States could not use immunity to stop the suits. Private citizens who sue under state abortion laws would count as state enforcers. The federal religious freedom law could not be used to defend a restriction.
Congressional Summary
Women's Health Protection Act of 2025This bill prohibits governmental restrictions on the provision of, and access to, abortion services.Before fetal viability, governments may not restrict providers fromusing particular abortion procedures or drugs,offering abortion services via telemedicine, orimmediately providing abortion services if delaying risks the patient's health.Furthermore, governments may not require providers toperform unnecessary medical procedures,provide medically inaccurate information, orcomply with credentialing or other conditions that do not apply to providers who offer medically comparable services to abortions.Additionally, governments may not require patients to make medically unnecessary in-person visits before receiving abortion services or disclose their reasons for obtaining services.After fetal viability, governments may not restrict providers from performing abortions when necessary to protect a patient's life and health. The same provisions that apply to abortions before viability also apply to necessary abortions after viability. Additionally, states may authorize post-viability abortions in circumstances beyond those that the bill considers necessary.Further, the bill recognizes an individual's right to interstate travel, including for abortion services.The bill also prohibits governments from implementing measures that are similar to those restricted by the bill or that otherwise target and impede access to abortion services, unless the measure significantly advances the safety of abortion services or health of patients and cannot be achieved through less restrictive means.The Department of Justice, individuals, or providers may sue states or government officials to enforce this bill, regardless of certain immunity that would otherwise apply.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-06-24
- Date Added
- 2026-06-02
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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