[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 2, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2205-S2206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           PLANNED PARENTHOOD

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, last month, the courts once again stepped 
in and allowed politicians to meddle in women's healthcare. Last month 
the courts once again stepped in. Unelected judges--unelected, 
conservative, mostly male judges--stepped in and allowed politicians to 
meddle in women's healthcare. These unelected judges ruled that Ohio 
can defund Planned Parenthood, limiting healthcare options for tens of 
thousands of Ohioans.
  Planned Parenthood centers just in my State alone provide 70,000 free 
STD and HIV tests, cancer screenings, domestic violence education, and 
prenatal care. These clinics--and I have been to a number of them--are 
often the only places that many women and some men have to turn. Think 
again about the services they provide. They provide STD and HIV tests. 
They provide cancer screenings. They provide prenatal care. They 
provide domestic violence education.
  What happens if they can't go to Planned Parenthood because of a 
political movement? Because of the politicizing of women's health, we 
see elected officials in Ohio taking away that care. They can't afford 
care somewhere else or they live too far away from other healthcare 
providers to have any real options. They turned to Planned Parenthood.
  This decision by these judges is devastating for Ohioans. I get 
letters all the time from Ohioans who rely on Planned Parenthood.
  One woman in Cincinnati wrote:

       [Planned Parenthood] performed several of my yearly 
     screenings, one of which detected an abnormality that was 
     taken care of early and didn't develop into a major problem. 
     Also, I was able to buy highly effective birth control at a 
     reasonable price and avoid harder choices down the road.

  Why would a legislature and a judge want to take that away?
  A woman from West Liberty, a conservative community in our State, 
wrote:

       If Planned Parenthood was not available to me as a young 
     woman, I would've had nowhere to turn.
       I was comfortable with seeking the help of the kind women 
     and staff at Planned Parenthood. I was young and naive, but 
     at least I knew there was somewhere safe to turn to.

  A Columbus woman who wrote from the State's largest city:

       At the age of 18, I became a young new mother. Throughout 
     my years as a new mom, struggling to manage financial 
     responsibilities on top of everything else, I used Planned 
     Parenthood for most of my OB needs.
       Planned Parenthood not only provided a well-rounded 
     education in which I had received none previously--

  That happens so often--

     but they also provided services that I would not have had 
     access to otherwise.

  Another woman from Cincinnati wrote:

       I am 42 years old, but when I was a young woman in college 
     I went to a Planned Parenthood clinic to receive my yearly 
     check-ups. It was cheap, near my college, and easy to access.
       During one of my appointments they shared with me that they 
     had found an irregular pap-smear and that I needed immediate 
     medical attention.
       [The doctor] suggested a surgery for an issue she found 
     that may later cause issues

[[Page S2206]]

     with having children. The doctor was amazing, supportive, and 
     provided me the guidance as a young woman of what to do to 
     ensure I was safe and getting the proper next steps.
       Planned Parenthood saved my life.

  The animosity coming out of the majority leader's office, the 
animosity toward Planned Parenthood coming from so many of my 
colleagues, and so much of the animosity coming out of the White House 
toward Planned Parenthood just amazes me because this woman said: 
``Planned Parenthood saved my life.''
  Think about that.
  It is time for old White men in Washington and in courtrooms--and 
that is usually who they are. They are very affluent, they are 
generally older men judges, they are generally White, and they are 
making decisions in courtrooms and dictating decisions that should be 
made between a woman and her doctor.
  That is what this is. This, along with heartbeat bills and all the 
other bills making their way through the State legislature in my State 
of Ohio and around the country--they spread lies. They spread 
disinformation. They are all about the same thing--intimidating women, 
intimidating doctors, and making it harder for women to get 
comprehensive healthcare. It is immoral, and it is despicable. I join 
so many of my colleagues in pledging never to stop fighting to protect 
women's freedom to make their own healthcare decisions.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island is recognized.

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