Patricia Schroeder: “Mr. Speaker, on Friday this House voted to repeal the assault weapons ban as a payoff to the NRA. Today we are voting to…”

“Mr. Speaker, on Friday this House voted to repeal the assault weapons ban as a payoff to the NRA. Today we are voting to ban a rare but sometimes medically necessary procedure as a payoff to certain right-wing elements within the Republican party. Mr. Speaker, we need to be honest with each other. Anti-choice forces see this ban as the first step toward ending a woman's right to choose in America. As far as the anti-choice forces are concerned, there is no difference between the procedure we are debating today and abortions in the cases of rape and incest. Yet these same radicals believe that properly manipulated, this late-term procedure can be the wedge issue to divide the overwhelmingly pro-choice American public. Today, it is this procedure. Tomorrow, it is family planning. Mr. Speaker, no one in this body likes this procedure. And, yes, it is unpleasant. But this rarely used medical procedure remains necessary to ensure that women who must have an abortion are still able to bear children afterwards.”