Congressional act seeks to repeal D.C. shield law

Representative Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) and Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) have introduced legislation that would repeal Washington D.C.'s "shield law," which protects abortionists who break the law in other states and doctors who illegally provide cross-sex hormones to minors in other states.

Key Takeaways:

• A new bill would repeal a D.C. shield law that protects abortionists and those who prescribe cross-sex hormones to children.

• The bill is sponsored by Rep. Andrew Clyde and Sen. Mike Lee, who say that Congressional leaders have a duty to overturn the law.

• Shield laws exist in many pro-abortion states. In New York the state has cited its shield law in protecting abortionist Dr. Margaret Carpenter from legal action in Texas.

The Details:

The Shield Law Repeal Act would repeal the D.C. Council’s Human Rights Sanctuary Amendment Act of 2022. The D.C. law prevents the District government from "facilitating certain investigations and proceedings that limit the exercise of human right of bodily autonomy in the District of Columbia." The law prohibits officials from investigating or aiding in investigations against those who may have committed abortion crimes in other states (such as mailing the abortion pill into states with preborn protections), or providers who illegally prescribed cross-sex hormones to minors.

Clyde maintained that because Congressional leaders meet in D.C., they have an obligation to repeal the shield law and protect Americans.

“D.C.’s shield law allows providers in our nation’s capital to deliver abortion drugs and cross gender hormones — with zero legal repercussions — to individuals in states that rightly prohibit these harmful drugs,” he told the Daily Caller. “This is a blatant, egregious effort by the Left to spread both the evils of abortion and woke gender ideology into every corner of our country.” He added:

“Given Congress’s constitutional authority over Washington, we must repeal D.C.’s shield law to not only hold providers accountable for their crimes, but to protect women, children, and the precious unborn. Failure to do so lets providers off the hook for undermining state laws and endangering Americans — including my constituents in Northeast Georgia.” 

“Our nation’s capital should not be a refuge for people who take the lives of children or wreck their bodies with illegal drugs” said Lee, the bill's Senate sponsor. “Criminals on the lam can escape to DC after performing abortions in states where they are illegal, because they know DC will let them get away with it. This bill will repeal DC’s safe harbor for illegal abortionists and peddlers of drugs for transexual procedures, restoring the rule of law to Washington.”

What We're Hearing:

According to a press release, the bill is endorsed by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Concerned Women for America (CWA), the Family Research Council (FRC), and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA).

“We are grateful to Rep. Andrew Clyde for introducing this bill to repeal the so-called shield laws in Washington, D.C. These unconstitutional ‘shield laws’ open the door for the illegal and illicit flow of dangerous abortion drugs into prolife states, harm women and their unborn children, and protect abortion drug traffickers from legal liability," said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Matt Sharp.

Zoom Out:

'Shield laws' were enacted in a number of pro-abortion states and jurisdictions following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, as those states sought to shore up their pro-abortion status by promising to protect those who commit abortions, even when women are harmed and laws are broken.

One such law has been put to the test in New York, as the state is currently protecting abortionist Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who mailed abortion pills to a woman in Texas. The woman needed emergency medical care after taking the pills. Though the state of Texas, which protects preborn children from abortion, has sought legal action against Carpenter, New York is refusing to comply with the Texas judge's order, citing the state's shield law in its refusal.

Carpenter is also known to have facilitated the injury of a teen in Louisiana in a similar manner.

The Bottom Line:

Lawmakers have a responsibility to create laws that protect women and children — not put them in harms way. The only people protected by shield laws are those who profit from harming minors and killing preborn children.