On the recordMay 13, 2015
This is the final amendment to H.R. 36, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended. My amendment would ensure that nothing in the bill would prevent a woman from terminating her pregnancy after 20 weeks if her health were at risk. Only 1.1 percent of abortions performed in the United States occur after the 20-week mark. These rare procedures are often the most medically difficult and dangerous cases where women--many of whom want and have dreamed of being parents--are faced with impossible decisions. As it is written, H.R. 36 would force a doctor to wait until a condition becomes life threatening before performing an abortion. It shows no concern for the long-term health of the mother, her future ability to bear children, or her right to make her own medical decisions. It ignores that there are very real and very serious reasons why a woman may need an abortion later in pregnancy. For example, pregnant women with severe fetal anomalies or women whose amniotic sacs rupture prematurely and cannot support the fetus would be forced to give birth. The bill also treats doctors as criminals for providing care that has been the law of the land for 42 years, and it puts doctors' safety at risk by requiring public disclosure of doctors who provide abortion care around the country.…
