Sean Patrick Maloney: “I rise in support of the DeGette amendment. Here we go again. Today marks the 127th vote on choice since the beginning…”

“I rise in support of the DeGette amendment. Here we go again. Today marks the 127th vote on choice since the beginning of the 104th Congress. Each of these votes is documented in my choice report which can be found on my website. Access to abortion has been restricted bill by bill, vote by vote, and procedure by procedure. The DeGette amendment seeks to correct one of these attacks on American women. Federal prisoners must rely on the Bureau of Prisons for all of their health care, so, if this ban passes, it would prevent these women from seeking needed reproductive health care. Most women prisoners are victims of physical or sexual abuse. Most women, if pregnant in prison, became pregnant from rape or abuse before they entered prison. Most women prisoners are poor when they enter prison, and cannot rely on anyone for financial assistance. These women already face limited prenatal care, isolation from family and friends, a bleak future, and the certain loss of custody of the infant. The ban on abortion assistance for women in prison closes off their only opportunity to receive such care, it denies them their constitutional rights, but most importantly, it denies them their dignity. Current law tragically ignores these women. Perhaps more disturbing is that it also tragically ignores children born to women in prison. These children are taken from their mothers who cannot raise them in a stable family environment. What kind of life are we providing for them?”