Katie Porter: “Mr. Chairman, the Gilman-Pelosi amendment will allow family planning services in the Third World to continue, while…”

“Mr. Chairman, the Gilman-Pelosi amendment will allow family planning services in the Third World to continue, while safeguarding the fungibility of funds for abortion services. This amendment will allow U.S. funds to be used only by private and multilateral organizations that do not promote abortion as a method of family planning. I do not know, Mr. Chairman, how this could be any clearer. The Gilman-Pelosi amendment provides this important funding and addresses the concerns of those who would support the Smith amendment. Mr. Chairman, this debate is not about abortion, it is about women. It is about whether women, poor women in the developing world, will be allowed to use their minds and choose their future. Today, they gather the firewood, they gather the water, they till the fields, and they tend to the children. They have no other opportunity to participate in family and community development beyond these tasks. These women are not offered the opportunity to be educated, no chance at all; They are not given the chance to bring anything economically to the table, to their families, where it is valued. It seems to me it is time that we value women across the world. They should be valued for their minds and their potential to add to the global community.”