Bonnie Watson Coleman: “I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, for the umpteenth time, men in Congress are leading the charge…”

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, for the umpteenth time, men in Congress are leading the charge to limit women's access to health care, but now, instead of just wasting taxpayer dollars and time, they plan to take their outrageous tactics to a whole new level, perhaps shutting down the entire Federal Government if they don't get their way. As the gentlewoman from Massachusetts has already explained, that is absolutely ridiculous. Rather than consider legislation that would fund repairs to our Nation's infrastructure or invest in our schools or create jobs for millions of Americans still out of work, we are considering legislation that would cut off support to an organization that provides vital health services to women and men who might not otherwise have access. Mr. Speaker, Planned Parenthood is, first and foremost, an organization dedicated to women's health. What is more, despite the endless conservative rhetoric to the contrary, Planned Parenthood does not use a single dollar of Federal funds to provide abortions. This is really just a thinly veiled attempt to allow Congress to regulate a woman's uterus, and the end result won't be the end of very legal abortions. It will be the erosion of care, family planning, and medical treatment for thousands of women. Wednesday's Washington Post offered a perfect example. It profiled a single Planned Parenthood clinic in Ohio, a clinic that does not offer abortion services.…”