Political Quotes

“I rise in opposition to sections 103 to 105 of the Commerce Justice State appropriations bill. These sections would further undermine the constitutional right to an abortion. The right to an abortion was first articulated by the Supreme Court in the 1973 Roe versus Wade decision. This decision balanced the interests of protecting the fetus with the important interests of the mother, establishing a trimester system under which the right to choice in this country was delineated. Subsequent decisions have held that the Government may not place an undue burden on the woman's right, prior to fetal viability, to make a decision whether or not to have an abortion. There is no right to choose without access to choice. Restricting women's choice on these appropriations bills, and on other unrelated legislation, is a circumspect, back-door approach to prohibiting abortions. For women who cannot afford an abortion on their own, for poor women, this back-door approach to limiting abortions is just one more step to a back alley abortion. The many efforts to undercut the constitutional right to an abortion in this Congress, and earlier Congresses, have been documented by the National Abortion Rights Action League in their publication, 'The Road to the Back Alley.'”