A viral Facebook post claims that a resolution introduced by Republicans in Congress would require women to seek permission from men before accessing reproductive medical care.
“Republicans just introduced House Resolution 7 that will require women to get permission from their husband, father or priest to obtain birth control, have their tubes tied, access IVF, get treated for a miscarriage or end a pregnancy for any reason,” the post reads. “The bill focuses on church based medical practices and puts the woman’s needs, wants and life at the bottom of concerns. If you are a woman who voted Republican, or stayed home, you signed rights away.”
The claim is false. The resolution does not require women to seek permission from husbands, fathers, or priests before accessing reproductive health care. Additionally, unlike bills, simple resolutions do not create enforceable laws. Instead, they either dictate operations within the chamber of Congress that passed them or express the chamber’s collective opinion on an issue of public policy. The resolution would do the latter.
House Resolution 7—titled “Recognizing the importance of access to comprehensive, high-quality, life-affirming medical care for women of all ages”—was introduced on January 3, 2025, by Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona and was co-sponsored by Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana. The resolution, if passed, would affirm two statements: That the House of Representatives “expresses its support for women nationwide to have access to comprehensive, convenient, compassionate, life-affirming, high-quality health care,” and that it “recognizes the high standards established by Pro Women’s Healthcare Centers consortium as standards worth implementing nationwide.”
Pro Women’s Healthcare Centers (PWHC) is a consortium of pro-life women’s health practices that adhere to particular requirements such as the provision of medical services including STD testing and treatment, mammograms, pregnancy testing, pap smears, and post-partum depression screening. The consortium also requires direct provision of or referrals for material needs, emotional and spiritual support, and adoption.
While the PWHC is opposed to abortion as a solution for unwanted pregnancies, nowhere in its guidelines does it require spousal, parental, or pastoral permission for women to access the services it does provide. The clinics are also instructed not to turn away women who have had or plan to have abortions. “A woman in this setting should be welcomed, not preached to,” the requirements read. “The interaction should be based on the principle of accompaniment – walking with her on whatever journey she is on.” The goal of the consortium on matters of life is to “provide the possibility for women to receive the medical and comprehensive care they need in order to feel motherhood or adoption is plausible for them.”
In an email to The Dispatch Fact Check, Cassie Rae Higdon, communications director for Rep. Biggs, said that the contents and purpose of the resolution were being misrepresented. “The resolution simply affirms that pregnancy is comprehensive; pregnancy-related healthcare ought to take the mother, the father, and the unborn child into account,” she said. Higdon also emphasized that the measure only affirms Pro Women’s Healthcare Centers’ approach to medical care and is not binding legislation. “This is a House Resolution, not a bill with enforceable components or legal implications.”
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