Pelosi says Democrats are considering plans to protect access to abortion, information stored in reproductive health apps

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that House Democrats are exploring legislation to protect personal data stored in reproductive health apps, guarantee the right to free travel between states and codify the right to abortion after that the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade. .

The ideas, raised by Pelosi to other House Democrats in a letter dated Mondayit follows the court’s decision on Friday to overturn nearly 50 years of abortion rights in the U.S. The decision has sparked outrage across the country from abortion access supporters in the days since.

“This weekend, the American people spoke out in person and in large numbers about their opposition to the Supreme Court’s disrespect for women’s freedom over their reproductive health,” California Democrat Pelosi wrote. “While this extremist Supreme Court works to punish and control the American people, Democrats must continue our fight to expand freedom in America.”

His letter offered three initial ideas that Democrats are considering in response to the ruling.

The first would seek to protect the “most intimate and personal data of women” stored in reproductive health applications.

“Many fear,” Pelosi wrote, “that this information could be used against women by a sinister prosecutor in a state that criminalizes abortion.”

Such apps, including Flo of Flo Health, allow women to track their menstruation, prepare for conception, pregnancy, early motherhood, and menopause. While the company did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment, a fact sheet released by the company shows that some 32 million people used its app each month and that 12 million became pregnant while using the platform as of May 2020.

The second idea would be to pass legislation that reiterates the constitutional right to travel freely throughout the US, ensuring that residents of states that ban abortion can go elsewhere to have the procedure.

The third would codify the right to abortion as set forth in the 1973 Roe decision in a bill known as the Women’s Health Protection Act.

The chances of such legislation reaching President Joe Biden to become law are slim. The bill faces strong opposition from Senate Republicans.

Current Senate rules dictate that the majority party must muster 60 votes to overcome an indefinite filibuster organized by the minority opposition. With Democrats holding a razor-thin majority in a 50-50 split Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris the key tiebreaker, the legislation must win 60 votes in favor.

Pelosi acknowledged those odds in her letter, but argued that Democrats should consider doing away with the filibuster rule altogether.

“It is essential that we protect and expand our pro-choice majorities in the House and Senate in November so that we can eliminate filibuster and restore the fundamental rights of women and the freedom of all Americans,” she wrote.

Unless the filibuster is removed, Democrats have few legislative options available to them to counter the Supreme Court’s decision to reverse their earlier ruling.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told voters in his home state of Kentucky that Republicans and Democrats are far apart on any bipartisan compromise.

“In the Senate, most things require 60 votes,” he said. “Neither side on this issue has come close to having 60 votes. So I think it’s likely that all of this will be litigated and dealt with in the various states around the country.”

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