Sam Farr: “There are countless reasons why my colleagues should reject H.R. 36, the misnamed Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection…”

“There are countless reasons why my colleagues should reject H.R. 36, the misnamed Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. I am unequivocally opposed to the substance of the bill and the process by which it arrived on the House Floor today. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a little over one percent of abortions that are performed annually are resulting from pregnancies over 21 weeks. There are a variety of reasons why abortion care may become necessary at this stage of a pregnancy. Some may not know that they are pregnant; some, barred by public funding bans on abortion, need time to gather the funds for the procedure; and sadly, a large majority of these abortions are medically necessary due to severe fetal anomalies or risks to the mother's health. Doctors must be allowed to offer their patients the best care possible. Tragically, doctors in violation of this bill, were it to become law, could face jail time. The new version of H.R. 36 puts even more burdens on doctors in an all out effort to prevent them from performing the procedure so women will have nowhere to go for abortion services. As you'll recall, H.R. 36 was introduced on the very first day of the new 114th Congress and just two months later, the Republican Majority rushed this anti-family bill to the House Floor. However, with Members of its own party rejecting H.R.…”