Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 6918, the deceptively named Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act. This bill has a simple but negative purpose: It would divert Temporary Assistance for Needy Families dollars that successfully keep needy children and families from poverty to anti-abortion centers. These so-called crisis pregnancy centers masquerade as healthcare facilities, even going so far as to have staff dress in scrubs and white coats to mimic medical professionals. Let's be clear: They are organizations attempting to strong-arm, manipulate, and coerce pregnant people seeking abortion care into carrying pregnancies to full term, and this is to the great disadvantage of women in need. These anti-abortion centers are not actual medical facilities, so they are not covered by the privacy and security rules of HIPAA. With little or no consequence, staff at these facilities can lie to patients and share their personal information with anti-abortion extremists in order to survey, harass, pressure, or prosecute those seeking abortion care. The lies these centers tell can have profound impacts on a patient's health. In Iowa, an OB/GYN has seen patients who were told at these centers that using contraceptives was the same as having an abortion. In Massachusetts, an unqualified staff member at an anti-abortion center failed to diagnose a woman's ectopic pregnancy. That woman later required emergency surgery.…”