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File #: 220667    Version: 0 Name:
Type: Resolution Status: ADOPTED
File created: 9/15/2022 In control: CITY COUNCIL
On agenda: Final action: 9/22/2022
Title: Declaring the City of Philadelphia's commitment to protect and expand reproductive rights and abortion access in the face of extraordinary threats, and authorizing a task force to advance recommendations and coordinate initiatives to ensure that all Philadelphians as well as those who seek care here are able to exercise their fundamental right to bodily autonomy.
Sponsors: Councilmember Gym, Councilmember Gauthier, Councilmember Brooks, Councilmember Johnson, Councilmember Gilmore Richardson, Councilmember Thomas, Councilmember Jones, Councilmember Bass
Attachments: 1. Resolution No. 22066700, 2. Signature22066700
Title
Declaring the City of Philadelphia's commitment to protect and expand reproductive rights and abortion access in the face of extraordinary threats, and authorizing a task force to advance recommendations and coordinate initiatives to ensure that all Philadelphians as well as those who seek care here are able to exercise their fundamental right to bodily autonomy.

Body
WHEREAS, Abortion is healthcare, and access to a safe and affordable abortion is a human right; and

WHEREAS, Most Americans support legal access to abortion and generations have relied upon abortions to ensure the physical and mental well-being of themselves and their families. However, in a radical act of politicized jurisprudence, the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade and stripped away the nearly 50-year-old federal constitutional protection for abortion; and

WHEREAS, Anti-abortion lawmakers across the country are taking advantage of the Supreme Court's abandonment of abortion rights to further enact a multitude of abortion restrictions and bans. In a horrifying violation of legal norms and constitutional rights, some of these laws aim to criminalize and punish abortion seekers and healthcare providers with respect to abortions performed in states where the procedures are legal; and

WHEREAS, Anti-abortion lawmakers in Harrisburg are likewise seeking to further restrict or ban abortions in Pennsylvania. After a middle-of-the-night vote, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a bill as part of a process seeking to remove abortion rights from the Pennsylvania Constitution by referendum as early as Spring 2023; and

WHEREAS, In the face of these looming threats, Philadelphia's city and state-level elected leaders have spoken out against efforts to strip away these critical rights. Mayor Kenney's administration has led public education events and published an action guide to provide accurate information and direction for how residents can mobilize to protect abortion access, and has dedicated...

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