KINGSTON, N.Y. — It didn’t take newly elected U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan long to get down to business.
On Sept. 22, nine days after being sworn in as congressman, Ryan, D-Gardiner, introduced the “Protecting Reproductive Freedom Act.”
The bill would pre-empt state laws that prohibit women from accessing abortion medication through telehealth and would require a report to Congress on additional ways to expand access to reproductive health care.
“A woman’s right to choose is one of this country’s foundational freedoms, and there is no place for government interference in these private medical decisions, yet extremist state lawmakers are restricting access to FDA-approved abortion medication and even threatening to open Americans’ mail to stop the delivery of doctor-prescribed healthcare services,” Ryan said in a press release announcing the measure. “This legislation would ensure that women across the country can access this safe and effective medical treatment.”
Medication abortion accounts for over half of all abortion care in the U.S. The process involves a two-dose regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol and is approved for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.
Since January, legislators in at least 20 states have proposed bills that would restrict or ban access to those abortion pills, which were approved more than two decades ago by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as bills that would require women to obtain those medications from a doctor in person.
Ryan has been an outspoken champion for reproductive health care and abortion rights. He is a member of the “Pro Choice Caucus” congress members working to preserve, protect and advance policies that ensure reproductive autonomy. He is a co-sponsor of the EACH Act, which requires federal health care programs to provide coverage for abortion services and requires federal facilities to provide access to those services, as well as the Protecting Access to Contraception Act, which bars state or local officials from prohibiting or restricting the possession, sale, transportation or use of contraceptives.
In July, the House of Representatives passed The Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill to codify Roe v. Wade, which was overturned by the Supreme Court. That bill would have to be picked up by the Senate to move forward.
Ryan was elected to the 19th Congressional district in a special election in August to replace former U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, who resigned to become New York state’s lieutenant governor.
Ryan is running in November for election to the new 18th Congressional district when he will face off against Republican Colin Schmitt of Ithaca.
Schmitt did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday and Friday.
