Eleanor Holmes Norton: “American women have been outraged by Republican attacks on reproductive health this term. We saw it in the decision that…”

“American women have been outraged by Republican attacks on reproductive health this term. We saw it in the decision that was later reversed by the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure when it initially pulled funding for Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings, and we saw it again in Republican attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, and then again to block access to contraceptives as part of health insurance. More seriously, beneath the radar, there has been a far-right campaign, as announced by anti-choice forces, that will emerge in the markup of H.R. 3803, a frontal attack on abortion rights as guaranteed by Roe v. Wade. Representative Trent Franks, the sponsor of H.R. 3803, and anti-choice forces have unleashed a full-fledged attack on Roe and the Nation's women, using women in the Nation's Capital as pawns. The District of Columbia Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill without any scientific basis, seeks to ban all abortions in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with very limited exceptions. However, Roe v. Wade requires viability to be determined only by a physician and not by statute. Although the bill is nominally addressed only to women in the District of Columbia, it seeks to rally the most extreme Republicans by achieving a Federal imprimatur, however bogus or limited, for use in an ongoing campaign across the Nation to get States to defy the law of the land under Roe v. Wade.…”