Peter Deutsch: “I wish all of us could be honest. This rule is maybe the most disingenuous rule I have seen in my 8 years in the United…”

“I wish all of us could be honest. This rule is maybe the most disingenuous rule I have seen in my 8 years in the United States Congress. The fact that this rule allows the Coburn amendment on the bill is a convoluted attempt to, I do not know, kill the bill, or put the Democrats in a politically disadvantageous position. The vast majority of Democrats who are pro-choice, and the majority of Democrats who support this bill, have a Hobson's choice under this rule. If the rule is passed, and then the Coburn amendment with similar things that have passed this floor is then on the bill, then where do Democrats vote? The reality is that the Coburn amendment is an awful amendment from a policy perspective. It is a gag rule. Let me read what the American College of Obstetricians and Surgeons said about it: ``We must pass a bill that allows health providers to effectively advocate for the care of their patients, not gag providers in an attempt to limit women's access to needed reproductive health services.'' This is a gag rule. It is incredible, the scope of it. It would prevent those physicians who benefit from the Campbell rule from even talking to providers about providing reproductive or family planning services, a complete ban. They could not even talk about that in terms of their negotiation. It is an extremely large attempt to limit women's choices in America.”