[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 29, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H1028]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1210
                  KICKOFF OF WOMEN'S HEALTH WEDNESDAY

  (Ms. DeGETTE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to announce the inaugural 
Women's Health Wednesday. Starting today and continuing for every 
Wednesday, Members of this distinguished body will take to the floor to 
talk about mammograms, about comprehensive family planning, and, yes, 
even about birth control.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to kick off this first Women's Health 
Wednesday by reminding everybody this is 2012, not the dark ages. So it 
amazes me that the debate we've been having lately, both in the Halls 
of this Congress and out in the political scene, is about birth 
control. Birth control.
  Ninety-nine percent of women have used birth control at some point in 
their lives, including 98 percent of Catholic women; and 1.5 million 
women in this country rely on birth control for noncontraceptive 
purposes to treat a variety of medical conditions. The Institute of 
Medicine has determined, based upon science, that birth control is a 
fundamental part of women's preventive care. Yet here we are, debating 
about birth control.
  Mr. Speaker, over the next coming weeks, we will have many 
conversations, and I'm excited to talk about women's health.

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