Fighting for the Right to Choose

Since Sherman's arrival in Congress, he has fought to protect the right to abortion and reproductive healthcare and has consistently earned 100% ratings from NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood for over a decade.

Sherman is also a member of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, which addresses important issues affecting the right to choose.

Below are some of Sherman's recent efforts to protect the right to choose and defeat relentless attacks on reproductive healthcare rights.

Protecting the Right to Reproductive Healthcare

The right to choose includes the right to start a family. Yet over 130 conservative Members of Congress have amassed support for the "Life at Conception Act" that threatens the use of IVF for couples experiencing fertility issues, while conservative state legislatures across the country continue to try to curtail or eliminate IVF.

In response, Sherman has joined with colleagues in introducing the Access to Family Building Act, which ensures that no parents or doctors are punished for trying to start a family.

Expanding Access to Abortion After Roe v. Wade

In 2022, Sherman helped pass through the House the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would create a safeguard against bans and medically unnecessary restrictions on the right to choose, codifying the rights once guaranteed by Roe v. Wade. Troublingly, the Senate refused to act and consider this legislation and House Republicans won’t even allow a vote on the bill. Next year we should pass it into law.

In the months before Roe was struck down, Sherman introduced his own legislation, theMedical Travel Assistance to Protect Women’s Right to Choose Act, to help cover travel expenses related to seeking abortion care for any resident of a state that restricts abortion services – so that such residents can travel to a state where abortion is more accessible.

Sherman also helped introduce the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, which passed the House last Congress and would protect the constitutional right to cross state lines to access abortion care by allowing the U.S. Department of Justice to file lawsuits against states infringing that right. Again unfortunately, the Senate failed to act.

Moreover, Sherman helped introduce the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Act,which requires federal healthcare facilities to provide abortion services and requires U.S. government-sponsored healthcare programs – like Medicaid – to provide coverage for abortion.