By Brian Freeman Wednesday, 03 December 2025 06:32 PM EST
Rep. Andrew Clyde introduced legislation on Wednesday aimed at preventing abortion providers and gender-transition practitioners from evading legal consequences by traveling to Washington, D.C., following procedures banned in Georgia.
The “D.C. Shield Law Repeal Act” targets the District of Columbia Council’s Human Rights Sanctuary Amendment Act of 2022. This law has protected individuals involved in abortions or distributing gender hormone drugs from being held legally accountable under state laws where such activities are prohibited. The bill seeks to repeal this protection.
In a statement, Clyde emphasized that both abortion and cross-gender hormone procedures carry serious, irreversible consequences. He stated the legislation is necessary to exercise constitutional authority over D.C., hold providers liable for undermining state laws, and protect women, children, and the unborn from perceived harms associated with these activities.
“Both abortion and cross gender hormone drugs have serious, irreversible consequences,” Clyde noted.
He framed the legislation as a direct challenge against what he termed “the Left’s woke ideology” being spread under the guise of bodily autonomy. The repeal is intended to ensure D.C. providers face legal repercussions for actions restricted by other states.
Clyde also mentioned companion legislation being pushed in the Senate by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. He described D.C.’s current protection as a safe harbor allowing individuals who perform abortions or distribute drugs involved in transsexual procedures to operate without accountability under state bans.
“Given Congress’s constitutional authority over Washington, we must repeal DC’s safe harbor for illegal abortionists and peddlers of drugs for transsexual procedures,” Lee-aligned statements suggested. “Criminals on the lam can escape to DC after performing abortions… because they know DC will let them get away with it.”
The legislation emerges in the context of multiple blue states implementing their own shield laws since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade two years prior, creating legal barriers for abortion providers operating across state lines.
