On the recordMay 12, 2022
First, let me thank Chairwoman Maloney for her tremendous leadership. Also, I just have to thank her for her encouragement for myself, Congresswoman Jayapal, and Congresswoman Bush to really step out and talk about something that I personally have never talked about ever because it was my own personal business. As my mother told me, that is a decision that I made between her and myself, and now, it looks like that liberty could be taken away. But even in the day--and this was way before Roe v. Wade, I had an abortion. The gentlewoman gave me a chance to talk about it, which is something I would not do because of what I just said. It was a private decision. But once these draconian laws started passing in the States, and once these trigger laws were put into place, and once I saw what was taking place, I was compelled to talk about it because once we tell these stories, what I learned was that there are so many people who have similar stories, men and women who came to me. People I have known for 30, 40 years came to me, whispered to me: I had the same experience. I was afraid to talk about it. What I am finding now is that more people are beginning to share their experiences. I tell you one thing: In addition to the privacy issue, it was about stigma. I was raised in a Catholic school, in the Catholic Church. Of course, this is a huge decision anyone has to make. Nobody wants to have to go through this trauma. But I did, and so many others have.…
