House Rejects Efforts to Pass Discriminatory PRENDA Abortion Ban

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives today rejected an effort to pass the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA), H.R. 3541, that would have imposed civil and criminal penalties – including incarceration – on medical professionals who provided abortion care to women, if a doctor had “knowledge” or “information” that a woman sought such care based on the sex of the fetus.

“PRENDA is a cynical attempt to undermine access to abortion care, particularly for women of color,” said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, policy counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “It does nothing to combat sex discrimination. Instead, it trades on anti-immigrant stereotypes and would inevitably lead to racial profiling, forcing health care professionals to treat certain women as automatic suspects. We hope now that Congress will turn its attention to legislative proposals that will actually promote civil rights and gender equality.”