Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Washington for yielding. While practicing medicine for over 30 years back in Texas, I personally prescribed a lot of contraceptives. I have seen the benefit that they have over the lives of women who use them, and I will continue to support a woman's right to access contraception. But this bill was brought to the floor of the House urgently and outside of regular order. There was no attempt to work with Republicans. The majority hastily put forward an incomplete product that, at the end of the day, is never going to see the light of day in the Senate. The Right to Contraception Act would establish a statutory right for patients to obtain contraception and for doctors to prescribe. The kindest thing I can say about this legislation is that it is duplicative and unnecessary. But, unfortunately, it can also be damaging. Contraception is so broadly defined that it could guarantee access to medical abortion pills or even contraceptives that might not have FDA approval. It could lead to the dispensing of unsafe products. Even if a product gets FDA approval, it does not always ensure its safety. Essure was a medical device previously sold to cause sterilization. The FDA approved this device in 2002, but it didn't start examining reported concerns by users until 2015. In 2018, the FDA restricted the sale of Essure, and the manufacturer took the device completely off the market.…”