Frank Pallone: “Here we are again. It is a new year and a new session of Congress, but House Republicans are yet again up to their old…”

“Here we are again. It is a new year and a new session of Congress, but House Republicans are yet again up to their old partisan tricks. Today, House Republicans have chosen to spend the first week of 2016 attacking women's health with a radical GOP reconciliation bill which would defund Planned Parenthood and strip away affordable family planning services and lifesaving care for millions of women across the country. Overall, this is the 11th time the House majority has voted to attack women's health in this Congress, including 4 prior votes to defund Planned Parenthood. Meanwhile, it is also the 62nd repeal vote of the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Speaker, this reconciliation bill is futile. It is political. It is unfortunate. We have a lot of work to do to help working families in this country, and today's bill reverses great progress in healthcare coverage and access and increases the deficit. In fact, CBO estimates that this extreme legislation would increase the uninsured by about 22 million Americans after 2017. We also know that, if defunded, Planned Parenthood's 2.7 million patients would be left without care, resulting in dangerous consequences. Just look at what is happening in States that have already implemented this radical agenda. In Indiana, such policies led to an HIV epidemic, and in Texas, it left tens of thousands of women without access to contraceptive care and increased incidences of life- threatening at-home abortions.…”