[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 87 (Tuesday, June 22, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1213]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




AMERICANS HAVE A RIGHT TO LIVE THEIR LIVES AND MAKE DECISIONS BEST FOR 
                                  THEM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 22, 2004

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I want to welcome all of my 
sharp, diverse female colleagues who are here tonight to speak on 
issues that affect women.
  Right now, there are a myriad of anti choice legal efforts designed 
to undermine the basic tenets of Roe v. Wade. Never in my time in 
Congress have I seen so much misleading legislation geared towards 
women, court cases that refuse to vindicate our right to privacy, and 
so many blatant anti choice judicial nominees.
  Americans have the right to live their lives and make decisions that 
are the best for them and their children. We are falling down a 
slippery slope of having the government dictate our moral, ethical, and 
private decisions. There is a small, fundamentalist, religious group 
which is overexerting their influence on the way our government is 
being run, and we must immediately put a stop to it.
  Marian Wright Edelman, the President and Founder of the Children's 
Defense Fund, said ``Justice is not cheap. Justice is not quick. It is 
not ever finally achieved.'' Looking out at this room of hopeful faces, 
I know that Justice can be achieved in our ``battle for reproductive 
freedom'' within our lifetime.
  I am proud to be at the forefront of this battle, and I want to share 
some of my insight and strategy aimed at protecting a woman's right to 
choose.
  I joined over a million people who believe that it is time to stand 
up for women's rights and demand a change in our administration on 
April 25, 2004 at the March for Women's Lives.
  We marched because there is an attempt by our administration to 
undermine our fundamental rights. Women's health care includes 
reproductive services, access to contraception, and informed decisions 
made by individuals about their body, not their government.
  My predecessor and longtime role model, Barbara Jordan, once said, 
``We want to be in control of our lives. Whether we are jungle 
fighters, craftsmen, company men, gamesmen, we want to be in control. 
And when the government erodes that control, we are not comfortable.'' 
The government is trying to erode that control, and this is something 
we must come together to prevent.
  Right now we have an Administration that actively seeks to undermine 
a woman's right to choose. They falsely claim to be doing this in the 
interest of women and children, citing both the mother and child's well 
being as justifications for their actions. This same Administration has 
frozen the Title X family-planning program in each budget for the last 
three years. They have also cut domestic-violence prevention programs 
and frozen important programs for women and children, including the 
Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, Head Start, and child-nutrition 
services.
  By contrast, they have proposed more than doubling funding for 
unproven, dangerous ``abstinence-only'' programs that censor health 
information from young people--and instead of supporting programs that 
help women who face violence, they have resorted instead to exploiting 
the issue for an anti-abortion political base. President Bush signed 
the so-called ``Unborn Victims of Violence Act'' with a false claim of 
being in a woman's best interest. This legislation would, for the first 
time in federal law, recognize an embryo or fetus as a separate 
``person'' with rights separate from, and equal to, a pregnant woman.

  Raising awareness must be a high priority, younger and older 
generations in America must begin to take this threat very seriously. 
Our right to chose is at its most precarious point since over 31 years 
ago, when Roe vs. Wade was decided. Our message will be clear: we will 
not tolerate the persistent government attacks on women's health and 
reproductive rights.
  I am pleased that for the first time in its 95-year history, the 
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) 
board of directors unanimously endorsed a pro choice march. The Black 
Women's Health Imperative has also signed on. These organizations are 
part of a growing majority that believe contraceptive education and 
abortion rights for black and minority women must be a priority. 
Unintended pregnancy rates for African-American women is almost three 
times the rate of Caucasian women, maternal mortality is 4 times higher 
for African-American women than Caucasians. One out of 4 African-
American women had less involvement than they would like in decisions 
effecting their health care, with only 73 percent of African-American 
women receiving first trimester prenatal care.
  By making abortion illegal, we are going to harm those who turn to 
back alleys and home remedies to ``fix'' their situation, a scenario 
faced disproportionately by minorities and the underprivileged. We 
cannot make abortion inaccessible, illegal, or shameful. We must stand 
up for women's rights and let them make informed choices.
  After the March for Women's Lives, I thought we had begun to get our 
message across. It seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Last month, the 
Food and Drug Administration denied the application to make Plan B 
(emergency contraception) available for sale over-the-counter. This is 
an unprecedented intrusion of politics into science. Never has an 
administration so politicized an over the counter application, nor set 
aside the overwhelming recommendation of its panel of experts. Our 
administration would rather appeal to the far right than work to reduce 
the number of abortions. If over-the-counter availability of EC could 
prevent even ten percent of unintended pregnancies annually, it would 
result in 150,000 fewer abortions per year.
  This decision stands in direct opposition to the administration's 
stated goal of reducing the number of abortions. Emergency 
Contraception is not an abortion. It is simply concentrated doses of 
the regular birth-control pill, taken soon after sex in order to 
prevent pregnancy. Emergency Contraception is not the same as RU 486, 
which terminates an already-established pregnancy. EC is safe and 
effective, and is not harmful if taken after a pregnancy has been 
established.
  Over-the-counter sales would be particularly beneficial for sexual 
assault victims. According to scientific studies, approximately 25,000 
women per year in the United States become pregnant as a result of 
rape. An estimated 22,00 of these pregnancies--or 88 percent--could be 
prevented if sexual assault victims had timely access to emergency 
contraception.
  I hope that all of you are willing to take the step and be the voice 
to fight against this slippery slope. The battle for reproductive 
freedom is far from over. I want to close with a quote from one of our 
truly great female leaders, Susan B. Anthony, ``Men, their rights, and 
nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.''