War on Women EXPOSED! The Fight Against H.R. 7

From abortion bans to political roadblocks, the war on reproductive rights is forcing women to risk their lives for basic medical care.

Across the United States, women’s healthcare rights are under siege. Over the past several years, conservative lawmakers, emboldened by right-wing think tanks like The Heritage Foundation, have orchestrated a relentless assault on reproductive autonomy. From legislative initiatives such as H.R. 7 and H.R. 48 to the ideological blueprint of Project 2025, the conservative movement is wielding its political power to strip women of control over their bodies and futures. This erosion of rights is compounded by the declining representation of women in Congress, leaving women with fewer allies in a government increasingly dominated by patriarchal priorities.

It is time to call this out for what it is: an organized, deliberate war on women’s autonomy waged under the false pretenses of fiscal conservatism, "life-affirming care," and so-called informed consent.

H.R. 7: A Trojan Horse for Restriction

H.R. 7, branded as the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," is a stark example of conservative efforts to chip away at reproductive rights under the guise of fiscal responsibility. While the resolution claims to eliminate taxpayer funding for abortions, it primarily serves to erect barriers for low-income women who rely on government programs for healthcare.

Introduced multiple times in the last decade, H.R. 7 has consistently failed to gain traction, but its 2023 iteration gained renewed urgency in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade. This version of H.R. 7 pretends to prioritize "life-affirming medical care for women," but its language subtly shifts focus to include the needs of men, families, and communities. This deliberate framing minimizes women’s healthcare needs, treating them as secondary to the interests of others.

To make matters worse, H.R. 7 champions "Pro Women’s Healthcare Centers," which are nothing more than anti-abortion organizations disguised as clinics. These centers fail to provide comprehensive reproductive healthcare and instead push a narrow, ideological agenda that actively limits women’s choices. By prioritizing such centers, H.R. 7 perpetuates a vision of healthcare that seeks to control rather than empower women.

H.R. 48: Coercion Disguised as Consent

The proposed amendments to H.R. 48 in the 119th Congress further illustrate how conservatives are weaponizing legislation to undermine women’s autonomy. The resolution, introduced initially to mandate that women undergo ultrasounds and review the images before obtaining an abortion, has been reintroduced with additional restrictions that are even more insidious.

Under these amendments, women would face mandatory waiting periods, counseling sessions, and additional bureaucratic hurdles before accessing care. These measures claim to ensure "informed consent," but in reality, they serve as emotional manipulation tactics designed to shame women out of seeking abortions.

Requiring ultrasounds and viewing the images is not about empowering women—it’s about controlling them. Forcing someone to endure a government-mandated procedure that has no medical benefit is a violation of personal autonomy. These policies are particularly harmful to low-income women and those in rural areas, who already face significant challenges accessing care. Waiting periods and additional requirements mean more time off work, more travel, more childcare arrangements, and more costs, placing abortion out of reach for the most vulnerable.

H.R. 48, like H.R. 7, reflects the broader conservative agenda to create as many barriers as possible to abortion access. It is a cruel and calculated attack on women’s right to make their own healthcare decisions.

The Trump Connection and Project 2025

These legislative attacks are not happening in a vacuum. They are part of a larger, orchestrated movement driven by Project 2025, a sweeping plan authored by The Heritage Foundation to institutionalize conservative dominance across all levels of government.

Donald Trump’s administration, past and present, is deeply tied to this effort. Under Trump’s first term, figures like Russell Vought, a principal architect of Project 2025, shaped federal policy to align with far-right goals, including stripping funding for reproductive healthcare. Today, Trump’s latest cabinet nominations include several contributors to Project 2025, signaling a renewed effort to use federal power to enforce its regressive vision.

The connection is undeniable: H.R. 7 and H.R. 48 reflect Project 2025’s priorities. Trump’s influence ensures that these policies are not just proposals but actionable steps toward dismantling decades of progress in women’s rights. This is an agenda designed to centralize control over women’s bodies under the guise of "life-affirming care" while systematically eroding the freedoms women have fought so hard to secure.

A Crisis of Representation

At the same time, women face another challenge: a declining presence in Congress. For the first time in nearly 50 years, fewer women are serving in federal office, reducing the diversity of voices shaping policy. Women legislators have historically been some of the fiercest advocates for reproductive rights and equitable healthcare. Their absence makes it easier for legislation like H.R. 7 and H.R. 48 to move forward unchallenged.

Without a Congress that reflects the population it serves, it becomes harder to pass policies that address women’s healthcare needs. The lack of representation undermines legislative priorities and signals a troubling regression in the fight for gender equality.

Abortion Care Is Healthcare: The Truth Behind the Conservative Rhetoric

One of the most damaging conservative narratives in recent years is the claim that abortion care is separate from, or even antithetical to, healthcare. This rhetoric dismisses a fundamental truth: abortion is an essential component of medical care. For many women, it is not just a matter of choice but a critical, sometimes lifesaving, intervention. Conservative lawmakers and policies that seek to restrict or ban abortion do so under the guise of protecting life, yet their actions have created a public health crisis that puts countless women’s lives at risk.

The Medical Realities of Abortion as Healthcare

Abortion is a medically necessary procedure in a variety of circumstances. For women experiencing life-threatening pregnancy complications, such as ectopic pregnancies, severe infections, or preeclampsia, abortion is often the only way to save their lives. Additionally, many women require abortion care after experiencing a miscarriage when the body does not naturally expel fetal tissue, leading to dangerous infections like sepsis. In these cases, abortion is not a choice—it is a critical medical intervention.

Despite this, conservative-led abortion bans and restrictions have created a chilling effect in hospitals and clinics, where doctors now hesitate to provide urgent care out of fear of violating state laws. In states with strict abortion bans, women suffering pregnancy complications are often forced to wait until their condition deteriorates to the brink of death before doctors feel legally protected enough to intervene. This unnecessary delay in care has turned what should be routine medical procedures into high-stakes emergencies.

The Human Cost of Abortion Restrictions

The devastating consequences of these policies are evident in states where abortion bans are in effect. In Texas, for example, reports have surfaced of women being denied care for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies because their healthcare providers feared prosecution under the state’s strict abortion laws. In some cases, women were forced to carry nonviable pregnancies for weeks, enduring immense physical and emotional pain, because doctors were unable to act until their lives were imminently threatened.

These restrictions also disproportionately harm marginalized groups, including low-income women, women of color, and those in rural areas. For many, traveling out of state to access abortion care is financially impossible, leaving them with no option but to risk their lives or carry pregnancies to term against their will. The lack of access to care exacerbates existing inequities in the healthcare system, forcing those already struggling with systemic barriers to endure additional trauma.

Exposing the Conservative Hypocrisy

While conservatives often argue that abortion restrictions are about preserving life, their policies tell a different story. These bans do nothing to address the underlying causes of unintended pregnancies, such as a lack of access to contraception or comprehensive sex education. Nor do they account for the long-term consequences of forcing women to carry pregnancies to term, such as increased maternal mortality rates in states with restrictive abortion laws.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that maternal mortality rates in the U.S. are already alarmingly high compared to other developed nations, and the rates are even worse in states with the most severe abortion restrictions. By denying women access to abortion care, these policies directly contribute to preventable deaths, making a mockery of any claim to being "pro-life."

Abortion Care Is Healthcare, Full Stop

It is crucial to dismantle the false dichotomy that separates abortion from other forms of medical care. Abortion is healthcare, whether it is sought to save a woman’s life, preserve her health, or allow her to make decisions about her own body and future. Denying women access to this care is not just a violation of their autonomy—it is a public health disaster.

Healthcare providers, advocates, and lawmakers must work to restore access to abortion as a fundamental aspect of medical care. At the same time, we must push back against the dehumanizing rhetoric that seeks to portray abortion as anything less than essential healthcare. Women deserve better than a system that values ideology over their lives.

A Call to Action

This is not just a legislative fight—it is a fight for the future of women’s autonomy and equality in America. H.R. 7, H.R. 48, Project 2025, and the decline in women’s representation are interconnected threads in a larger tapestry of control. They are part of a coordinated, patriarchal effort to strip women of the right to make decisions about their own bodies, pushing them into subjugation as lesser people.

But this fight is far from over. Women, allies, and progressive advocates must mobilize to push back against these regressive policies. We must demand a healthcare system prioritizing choice, equity, and autonomy. We must support candidates who champion women’s rights and fight to restore representation in Congress.

Women’s healthcare is not a privilege—it is a right. And it is one worth fighting for with everything we have.

Sources: Project 2025, Congress.gov, GovTrack.us, National Women’s Law Center