Patsy T. Mink: “Mr. Speaker, Roe versus Wade established for this country the right of women to have abortions. That right is a right…”

“Mr. Speaker, Roe versus Wade established for this country the right of women to have abortions. That right is a right that should be protected by the law. What we have seen over the past 10 years is thousands of women seeking to exercise that right in abortion clinics being blocked, harassed, threatened. We have seen doctors murdered, abortion clinics bombed and arson committed in these premises. We are not proceeding today on the basis of some general feelings. We are proceeding because of the acts of violence that have occurred that deny this fundamental liberty to women across this country. There is nothing in the bill that has anything to do with preventing people who wish to exercise their right of free speech to protest, to stand on the streets and to hold a picket sign or to express their opinions about abortion. The bill clearly allows that. But this bill is necessary to protect the right that the courts of this country have given to the women of America. Mr. Speaker, I urge the Congress to adopt this bill.”