Julia Brownley: “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…”

“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. Madam Speaker, as many of my colleagues know, I am a mom. I have two wonderful children. I am so very proud of them because both of them have decided to pursue careers that will save lives. My daughter, Hannah, currently lives in Africa, working for an NGO to fight poverty and AIDS. My son, Fred, is a doctor at Northwestern. Looking around this room, I see many other moms. We know the amazing joy that comes with parenthood. Most of us have been fortunate that our children were born without complications. Unfortunately, for some women, this is not always the case. Throughout this debate, Members have been sharing the stories of women who wanted to be moms, but who found themselves in unimaginable situations and who were forced to make one of the most gut-wrenching decisions of their lives--whether to terminate her pregnancy due to health risks. This is much like one woman from Michigan, who I will call Pam. Pam was already raising children and was excited and proud to be pregnant with another child. But Pam's pregnancy was causing her heart to fail. She consulted with multiple specialists, who all told her that her own health was in jeopardy if the pregnancy continued. Pam's doctors advised her that the safest option was to terminate the pregnancy.…”