On the recordJanuary 24, 2017
I want to thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for her tireless work and leadership on behalf of women's health. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 7. This discriminatory bill would undermine a woman's access to abortion care, which is a constitutional right as affirmed by Roe v. Wade, 44 years ago, by making the Hyde amendment permanent. This bill would restrict access to reproductive health care for millions of women and disproportionately harm low-income women and women of color. As if this isn't enough, H.R. 7 comes on the heels of a dramatic expansion of the global gag rule which denies lifesaving health care to women around the world; not to mention continuous Republican attacks on contraceptive access, comprehensive sex education, and Planned Parenthood. Madam Speaker, when I was a staffer on Capitol Hill when the Hyde amendment was passed, I remember the days very clearly of back-alley abortions. Clearly, Republicans are trying to take us back to the days when women died from unsafe abortions in this country. That is why I offered an amendment that would have recognized that women--not employers or politicians--have the right to make their own reproductive health choices. Shamefully, the Rules Committee refused to make it in order and allow for a debate. Madam Speaker, women should be able to make their own decisions about reproductive health care, including abortions, without Members of Congress or employers interfering.
