Lankford, Blackburn Work to Protect Health of Pregnant Women and Unborn Children

WASHINGTON, DC — Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced the Woman’s Right to Know Act to protect the health of pregnant women and unborn children by providing adequate medical information for informed consent before abortions.

Lankford and Blackburn were joined by cosponsors Senators Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Braun (R-IN), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Mike Rounds (R-SD), in addition to Representative Vicky Hartzler (R- MO) who introduced the House version of this legislation.

“Every life, born and unborn, is valuable, including pregnant moms, who deserve to be told the truth about abortions,” said Lankford. “This legislation is a simple step we can take to acknowledge and value the sanctity of life regardless of development or size.”

“For far too long, organizations like Planned Parenthood have targeted vulnerable women and pressured them to make life and death medical decisions without informed consent,” said Blackburn. “The Woman’s Right to Know Act protects the sanctity of life for women and children across the nation by establishing long-overdue standards for the predatory abortion industry.”

“We are talking about life and death here,” Inhofe said. “A mother has the right to know the risks associated with a practice as drastic as abortion and information about the development of her baby before she makes that decision. I have been and will always be an advocate for life—that’s why I am proud to join Sen. Blackburn in introducing the Woman’s Right to Know Act. While the abortion industry preys on unsuspecting women, doctors should be required to provide information to ensure women can make an informed decision, for their health and the health of their baby. It should be the law.” 

“The abortion industry has profited off of vulnerable women for far too long,” said Daines. “Mothers deserve to be informed about the medical dangers of abortion and the humanity of their preborn babies before making this life-or-death decision.”

“A disturbing reality of abortion is that it not only ends the life of the unborn child, but it is also forever alters the life of the mother,” said Braun. “This bill holds the abortion industry accountable for providing mothers seeking abortion with crucial information before an abortion can be performed, hopefully saving innocent lives. ”  

“Any medical decision, let alone a life-and-death decision, must be an informed one,” Hyde-Smith said. “This legislation would ensure physicians make expectant mothers aware of all medical risks associated with abortion. This is a sensible and basic safeguard to protect both the life of the mother and the child.”

“Women deserve to have all the information available before making a decision that affects their health and safety, as well as their unborn child. Unfortunately, the abortion industry continues to take advantage of vulnerable women—forcing them to make life changing decisions without fully explaining the effects. This bill builds on my work to penalize those who administer abortion procedures without informed consent and will set reasonable requirements to protect the well-being of mothers and our society’s most vulnerable, the unborn,” said Ernst.

“Expectant mothers should be protected. Essential to this is making sure they know everything they can know about how to protect their bodies. This bill provides information which all too often is not shared,” said Cassidy.

Scott said, “I am proud to support this legislation which works to stop bad actors from keeping patients in the dark about the risks and consequences of the procedures they perform, including abortion.”

“States throughout America have begun enacting laws to ensure that women considering abortion procedures have the full breadth of information and knowledge of the consequences surrounding an abortion procedure. In any medical decision, knowledge is power—and this one carries a multitude of mental and physical health risks for women,” Hartzler said. “I thank Senator Marsha Blackburn for introducing the Senate version of this bill and am eager to work with my colleagues to ensure this pro-woman legislation is passed to expand these safeguards for expecting mothers.”

“We are grateful to Senator Blackburn for reintroducing the Women’s Right to Know Act, legislation that will save women from tragic, gruesome abortion procedures that end innocent unborn life,” said the Honorable Marilyn Musgrave, SBA List VP of Government Affairs. “It’s simple—women deserve to know of the severe medical risks involved in abortion, as well as understand the development of the child within them. We urge senators to support this reasonable, compassionate legislation that sets important standards for the abortion industry.” 

“The ‘Woman’s Right to Know Act’ ensures that medical patients considering abortion receive a high standard of care and information as they consider a decision that will impact the rest of their life,” said Steven H. Aden, Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel at Americans United for Life. “Abortion always ends the life of a preborn child, and the data shows us that when women are given the real story on what abortion is, they often make the choice for life. The abortion industry would rather hide the facts. Americans United for Life is grateful for Senator Blackburn’s leadership to ensure that women know the truth.”

“The tragic reality of legal abortion includes the way in which Corporate Abortion fails to do no harm to the preborn as well as their mothers. Failing to fully explain what is happening to a growing child and what could happen to a mother is a dereliction of duty,” said Kristan Hawkins, President of Students for Life of America. “Frankly, the very least that we should expect from those profiting from ending lives is that they are honest and accurate about how abortion harms women and their preborn children. Students for Life America applauds Sen. Marsha Blackburn for again prioritizing women in holding Corporate Abortion accountable for how their horrific, life-ending business harms those who are exposed to their enterprise.”

Background

The Woman’s Right to Know Act sets reasonable medical requirements for physicians to meet in order to protect both the life of the mother and the child before an abortion can be performed:

• Abortion providers must explain all the medical risks associated with an abortion procedure;
• Abortion providers must explain the probable gestational age and development features of the unborn child at the time the abortion is to be performed; and
• Abortion providers must present this information at least 24 hours in advance of an abortion procedure.

Lankford has continued to stand against President Biden and the Democrats’ obsession with abortion. Earlier this week he introduced an amendment to require the Attorney General to include abortions committed because of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, sex, or disability of an unborn baby to a hate crime bill passed in the Senate this week. Last week he introduced the Protect Funding for Women’s Health Care Act to prevent any taxpayer dollars from going to the nation’s single-largest provider of abortions, Planned Parenthood, and he recently reintroduced the bicameral Women’s Public Health and Safety Act, which gives states the authority to exclude abortion providers, like Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid funds. He also sponsors the Conscience Protection Act, which would provide permanent protections for healthcare providers that decline to participate in abortions. He introduced several amendments to the recent COVID reconciliation bill in an attempt to make it comply with the long-standing Hyde amendment. Although one amendment was voted on, it was not agreed to by the full Senate.  

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