Eleanor Holmes Norton: “My request to testify was summarily refused on a bill to be marked up tomorrow to deny only women in my district, the…”

“My request to testify was summarily refused on a bill to be marked up tomorrow to deny only women in my district, the District of Columbia, the right to an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy as guaranteed by Roe v. Wade. So I testify for 1 minute today. Trent Franks, the chairman and sponsor of H.R. 3803 must have thought that one unfairness deserves another. The bill is of a piece with Republican attacks all year--to deny contraceptives in health insurance, and to defund Planned Parenthood. The bill is unprincipled, or it would not apply only to the District of Columbia. Its bogus science is matched by the absence of a need. Recent figures show almost three-quarters of abortions in the District occurred under 10 weeks of pregnancy, only one past 21 weeks. ____________________”