Katherine Clark: “Today I rise for Emilia. This is her story: Eighteen years ago, Emilia was pregnant with her second child. She was…”

“Today I rise for Emilia. This is her story: Eighteen years ago, Emilia was pregnant with her second child. She was happily married, financially secure, and eager to welcome a new baby into her family. After Emilia's baby was diagnosed with Down syndrome, she was even more determined to raise her baby with love and compassion. Imagine her devastation when, after a 20-week ultrasound, the baby was diagnosed with fetal hydrops and a battery of tests revealed her baby would not survive to term. Emilia made a wrenching decision to terminate her pregnancy rather than have her baby suffer. Emilia's hospital didn't provide abortion services, so she went to Boston and had to pass through a wall of picketers that told her she was a murderer. In the waiting room, she realized every other patient had the same story: no one was carrying a healthy baby. Every woman there was experiencing profound loss. Under a 20-week ban, none of these moms can make a decision for their families with their doctors. We would make that decision for them in Congress. On behalf of Emilia, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.R. 36. We must stop the ban.”