On the recordSeptember 18, 2015
I thank my friend for yielding and for her excellent remarks on the floor this morning. Madam Speaker, defunding Planned Parenthood would have a real, profound, negative impact on the 10,000 people in Maine who get health care from Planned Parenthood every year, many of whom have no other access to care. Planned Parenthood provides basic health care like cancer screenings, vaccinations, wellness exams, and STD testing, basic care that will mean the difference between health and sickness, prosperity and poverty, or even life and death for women in my State. Let's be clear. Who is really behind the attempts to defund Planned Parenthood? Radical antiabortion groups who want to shut down Planned Parenthood and deny women access to safe and legal abortions. These are groups who want to deny women the right to make a private, personal medical decision. In the process, they want to take away the access to birth control, family planning services, and even basic health care. They have orchestrated a false, misleading smear campaign to try and accomplish their goal, a campaign we have heard a lot today about here on the floor of the House of Representatives. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' and stand up for women's rights to make their own decisions about health care and protect their access to basic medical services.
