[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 138 (Thursday, September 24, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1339]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                 DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD ACT OF 2015

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                               speech of

                           HON. KEITH ELLISON

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 18, 2015

  Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, today, I would like to talk about the 
Republican effort to defund Planned Parenthood and restrict access to 
health care services.
  Planned Parenthood is an invaluable resource for working Americans 
across the country. In my home state of Minnesota, Planned Parenthood 
operates 18 clinics, an online health center, and serves over 54,000 
people every year.
  If funding for Planned Parenthood is eliminated--as my Republican 
colleagues are demanding--the consequences would be devastating. The 
elimination of Planned Parenthood's services would mean that millions 
of women and men would lose access to primary care services, 
contraceptive services, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and 
treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. These families--especially 
those in rural and high poverty areas--would have nowhere else to go.
  My colleagues who support defunding Planned Parenthood say that 
working families could go elsewhere to receive care. This claim is 
false. Community Health Centers and other clinics that serve low-income 
Americans would not be able to provide care for all of the patients 
that would flood their offices should Planned Parenthood lose their 
federal funding.
  Not only would defunding Planned Parenthood create barriers to 
accessing care, but it would limit the ability of women to achieve 
economic security. A recent Guttmacher Institute study showed that 
access to contraception helped women complete their education, keep or 
get a job, and take better care of their families. For example, the 
children of mothers who had access to contraception have higher family 
incomes and college completion rates. Moreover, research also shows 
that access to birth control contributed in a 30 percent rise in the 
number of women in skilled careers between 1970 and 1990. The positive 
effects of widespread access to reproductive and primary care services 
for women, families and Americans is immeasurable.
  Unfortunately, the recent attacks on Planned Parenthood are nothing 
new. This is just another attack on working families and low-income 
women. In 1976, Congress passed the Hyde Amendment which restricts the 
use of federal funds for abortion. This policy directly harms the 
wellbeing and safety of low-income women, and limits their personal 
autonomy. It is a policy I strongly oppose. Three decades later, 
Republican talking points about Planned Parenthood ignore the very real 
impact defunding the organization will have on every day Americans--
both on a large economic scale, and on the personal health and autonomy 
of Americans. It is a reminder that my Republican colleagues in 
Congress do not trust women to make decisions that are best for them. 
That must change. We must trust women to do what is best for their 
bodies and their families. Republican tactics also ignore the 
consequences of shutting down the government simply to make an 
ideological point.
  Putting the wellbeing of millions working Americans on the line is 
unacceptable. Supporting policies that restrict women's--specifically 
low-income women's--personal autonomy is unacceptable. That is why I 
support the Planned Parenthood and the working families it serves.

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