Jerry Nadler: “I rise to oppose this attack on the fundamental rights of American women. Members of this House have tried time and…”

“I rise to oppose this attack on the fundamental rights of American women. Members of this House have tried time and again to limit the right to choose. They have imposed restrictions on Federal employees, on those who receive Medicaid, on women in the military, on women in prison, and on women under the age of 18. But they do not stop there. We saw last week their efforts to limit access even to birth control. We even saw them argue that the birth control pill is a form of abortion. Their agenda is quite clear. Despite the fact that the Supreme Court has upheld the fundamental right of choice, it is their stated agenda not only to outlaw abortions by any means, but to limit access to birth control for millions of American women. That is why this vote today is so critical. It is an attempt to subvert the rulings of the Supreme Court and to implement phase I of their plan to eliminate the right to choice and to the availability of contraceptives. When we debated this bill a year ago we argued that it was unconstitutional and could not be enforced. Time has proven us right. In 17 States courts have enjoined so-called partial-birth abortion bans as unconstitutional because they are vague, they fail to provide physicians adequate notice as to what is prohibited, they provide no exception whatsoever to preserve a woman's health, and only a dangerously inadequate exception to preserve a woman's life.”