Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema is among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who’ve introduced a bill that would prevent states from banning abortion access. It comes just over a month after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision.
The Reproductive Freedom for All Act would codify the core protections of Roe into federal law. It would also guarantee access to contraceptives and enshrine elements of other Supreme Court decisions involving reproductive rights.
According to the text of the bill, the court has long held that the provisions of equal protection and due process under the law contained in the 14th Amendment guarantee the right to make certain reproductive decisions without government interference.
Republican senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Maine’s Susan Collins along with Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine are also co-sponsors.
Supporters say the bill is crucial in order to protect people’s ability to make their own healthcare decisions regardless of where they live.
Though the bill would likely have support from more than half of senators, it would still require 60 to overcome a potential Republican filibuster.
The Supreme Court’s decision announced in June reversed five decades of precedent. It created a wave of confusion in many states, including Arizona, that have patchworks of sometimes decades-old laws that ban and regulate abortion.
