Lynn C. Woolsey: “Here we are at the end of the fiscal year with important unfinished work for the House of Representatives. Our fiscal…”

“Here we are at the end of the fiscal year with important unfinished work for the House of Representatives. Our fiscal year budget is not complete, our seniors do not have a prescription drug benefit, and our local communities still need support in the war against terror, to list only a few of the unfinished pieces of business that we have before us. Yet, what does the majority decide to bring to the floor? A bill that everyone knows will not pass the muster of the Supreme Court. Because there is no exemption to protect a woman's health, this bill not only fails to meet moral requirements, it fails to meet constitutional requirements. We have a moral obligation to protect and promote women's health, not endanger it. In fact, our debate should be about measures to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and ensuring that all pregnant women have affordable access to the care they need so they can deliver healthy babies. The Supreme Court has been clear. Our laws cannot take away a woman's right to a safe and accepted medical procedure when her health is in danger; and yet the antichoice lobby chooses to once again waste our valuable time pushing legislation that politicizes women's health and chips away at a woman's constitutional right to choose an appropriate lifesaving medical procedure.”