Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, on the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Congressman James R. Walkinshaw (VA-11) introduced the Federal Workforce Reproductive Rights Protection Act, legislation to protect federal employees and their families from being forced to choose between their careers and access to lawful reproductive health care.

The bill would prevent federal agencies from relocating headquarters or major operations to states with restrictive abortion laws, allow federal employees to decline forced transfers or assignments to those states for covered health-related reasons, and provide travel and transportation support when federal workers or their eligible dependents must travel out of state to access lawful reproductive health care.

“Federal workers serve this country in every state and territory, and they deserve to know their employer will protect their health, privacy, and family,” said Congressman Walkinshaw. “Since Dobbs, millions of Americans have been forced to navigate a dangerous patchwork of state abortion bans and restrictions. For federal employees who can be ordered to relocate or accept assignments across the country, that threat is especially real. This bill protects public servants from being punished, pushed out, or put at risk because they need lawful reproductive health care.”

The legislation would also provide paid administrative leave for abortion-related travel, safeguard employee privacy in the travel allowance process, protect abortion-related privacy in security clearance and personnel decisions, and prohibit retaliation against employees or applicants who use the protections provided under the bill.

Congressman Walkinshaw introduced the bill with original cosponsors Reps. Frederica Wilson (FL-24), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), John Larson (CT-01), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Gil Cisneros (CA-31), Jesús G. "Chuy" García (IL-04), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Eugene Vindman (VA-07), Angie Craig (MN-02), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Emily Randall (WA-06), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Diana DeGette (CO-01), and Daniel Goldman (NY-10).

The Federal Workforce Reproductive Rights Protection Act is endorsed by the Reproductive Freedom Caucus, National Women’s Law Center, Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood, National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, and National Federation of Federal Employees.

Read the bill text here. 

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