[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 184 (Wednesday, December 9, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H14379]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
                      WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

  (Ms. HIRONO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, reproductive self-determination is one of 
the most fundamental civil and human rights a woman can have. And this 
right is under attack in the health care reform debate. Let's be clear 
that the real goal of the anti-choice opposition is not to maintain the 
status quo. Rather, they want to extend Federal prohibitions into 
private pocketbooks. They hope to make abortion coverage so 
unattractive that insurers eventually stop offering coverage for an 
otherwise legal medical procedure.
  Women do not plan to have unintended pregnancies or pregnancies with 
complications. Unfortunately, these do happen. It is deeply insulting 
to tell women that if you want to guard against these unplanned 
situations, go buy additional coverage.
  Essentially, health insurance companies today already treat being a 
woman as a preexisting condition, and they charge us more for it. The 
men of this country would rise up in protest if they faced this kind of 
unequal treatment based on conditions particular to their gender.

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