[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 44 (Thursday, March 5, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E268-E269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            ABORTION RIGHTS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 5, 2020

  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, we are at a critical juncture for 
abortion rights in America.
  Abortion is health care and a fundamental right. But, across the 
street from the Capitol, the Supreme Court appears ready to overturn 
precedent to go after reproductive justice. June Medical Services v. 
Russo is the first abortion case to be heard by anti-abortion Justices 
Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. They could pave the way for states to 
ban abortion for 25 million people in the United States.
  So, we are standing up. Because we will not be standing by.
  Regardless of where they live or how much money they make, 
individuals deserve the right to control their own bodies and future, 
and to get the healthcare that they want and need. When women can make 
decisions about their own reproductive healthcare, including whether 
and when to have children, they have autonomy over their lives, and 
their economic security.
  So, reproductive justice is about economic justice. That is what is 
under threat.

[[Page E269]]

  And, not just the courts. Opponents of abortion have launched a 
nationwide, full court press against abortion and women's health.
  Last year, 300 bills were introduced across the U.S. to curb or ban 
abortion. Alabama passed an extreme and callous law that would force 
teenage survivors of rape and incest, as well as people of any age, to 
carry a pregnancy without their consent. Texas introduced a bill to 
make abortion a capital offense.
  Then, there is the Trump-Pence administration. Its domestic gag rule 
insert Donald Trump and Mike Pence in between a woman and her doctor. 
More than four million women and men, including 45,000 in my state, go 
to Title X clinics for their health care services. Sixty percent of 
those women consider it their primary care. But, the domestic gag rule 
bans providers from even talking about abortion or abortion-related 
services with their patient, even if an abortion is medically 
necessary.
  Americans want more health care, not less. And, abortion is safe and 
legal, and the law of the land.
  So, as the chair of the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education 
Appropriations Subcommittee, I am proud to fight for women and families 
and for reproductive justice. In our House Labor-HHS bill, we fought to 
block the domestic gag rule. But the administration and the Senate 
Republicans stopped us. We are not giving up.
  Instead, the Democratic Majority of the U.S. House of Representatives 
is fighting for reproductive justice. We have legislation such as 
Congresswoman Barbara Lee's EACH Woman Act. The Hyde Amendment is a 
discriminatory policy that makes access to abortion dependent on your 
income. That is wrong, and I oppose it. We will continue the fight and 
we will win that fight in the near term to ensure that women of color, 
low income women and all women are on equal footing, with regards to 
reproductive rights.
  Making the decision to continue or end a pregnancy is a complex 
decision and a very personal one. Throughout their pregnancy, a person 
must be able to make health decisions that are best for their 
circumstances, including whether to end a pregnancy, without 
interference from politicians. President Trump does not get a veto.
  The Supreme Court should not forget that. The American people, and 
the voters, will not.

                          ____________________