[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 55 (Tuesday, March 29, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H3964-H3969]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               WOMEN OF THE REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS MOVEMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the gentlewoman from Texas (Mrs. Fletcher) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to give all 
members 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Speaker, this night, and this Women's History 
Month, together with my colleagues in the Pro-Choice Caucus, I rise in 
support of the women of the reproductive rights movement. Women who 
stood up, spoke out, and reached out to protect the rights of women in 
this country to determine whether and when to become parents. Of 
course, this work required and requires to this day, a broad, bold 
coalition of people, people whose work has necessitated tremendous 
sacrifice and has resulted in tremendous progress.
  Some of them were denied access to contraception, abortion care, and 
healthcare, and agreed to become the face of legal challenges. Some of 
them were strategists who shaped the arguments that became the fabric 
of legal protections for reproductive rights.
  Some of them were healthcare providers who saw the tragic 
consequences of the denial of those rights. As a lawyer, I have known 
some of their names through the landmark cases that bear them--Griswold 
v. Connecticut, Roe v. Wade, and more.
  Tonight, we celebrate them, we celebrate their courage, their 
commitment, and their purpose in articulating, advocating, and ensuring 
the rights to equality, privacy, and dignity that their work 
represents.
  Before yielding to my colleagues who are here this evening in person 
and in spirit, I will start with one of them who holds a special place 
in this work and in my own life. As a woman from Texas, it has always 
been a source of great pride that some fearless Texas women have been 
leaders in this fight.
  In the late 1960s, a group of Texas women came together to challenge 
our State's ban on abortion. They found as their lawyer and lifelong 
advocate, a young woman named Sarah Weddington, who is pictured here 
behind me. A recent law school graduate, Sarah Weddington was working 
for the University of Texas at that time. Perhaps not surprisingly, 
although she had good grades and a law degree, she had a hard time 
finding a job in a law firm. But she was working to help people solve 
their problems in Austin, and this group knew she would be a good 
advocate.
  I heard her tell the story once that when the group came to see her, 
they told her that they thought the best way to deal with the law was 
to challenge the law itself. She said that she had a law degree, but 
she really hadn't practiced in Federal court before. She wasn't a 
courtroom lawyer, and she hadn't handled a case like this one. So she 
told them she thought they should get someone with more experience.
  She recalled to us they asked her, Well, what would you charge us to 
do this lawsuit?
  And she said, Oh, I will do it for free.
  And they said, You are our lawyer.
  And that is how she got the case.
  Sarah called her law school classmate, Linda Coffee, and they agreed 
to work on the case together. Many UT law students and professors 
helped Sarah and Linda with the case. They heard from women, of course, 
and from doctors who treated women who had had complications from 
illegal abortions and women who had died from illegal abortions.

[[Page H3965]]

  Through their work, the strategizing, the organizing, the lawyering, 
these trailblazing Texas women brought us the framework to protect the 
health, privacy, dignity, equality, and freedom of women and families 
across this country in the case of Roe v. Wade. And 26-year-old Sarah 
Weddington and this team of Texas women took that case all the way to 
the United States Supreme Court.
  On January 22, 1973, the Court ruled in one of the most consequential 
decisions in American history, the Texas State law banning abortions, 
except to save a woman's life, was unconstitutional.

                              {time}  1945

  Sarah carried this fight with her for the rest of her life. She was 
elected to the Texas legislature. She served in the Carter 
administration where she helped get more women on the Federal bench. 
She worked for many years as a lecturer and professor teaching at 
schools, including the University of Texas.
  This year, 2022, was the first one that we marked the anniversary of 
Roe without Sarah Weddington. She left a legacy for us through her 
life's work, the rights and protections for the health, privacy, 
dignity, equality, and freedom of women and families enshrined in that 
decision that has shaped our country and our opportunities as women for 
the last 50 years.
  She was part of a generation of trailblazing Texas women who made it 
their life's work to make our world one of equality, opportunity, and 
possibility for women. It is fitting to remember, honor, and celebrate 
her tonight.
  Madam Speaker, several of my colleagues are here to remember and 
honor other women pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes of the 
reproductive rights movement.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. 
Stevens).
  Ms. STEVENS. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Texas (Mrs. 
Fletcher), who has been someone I have deeply admired as part of the 
women's movement, as part of the women's choice movement, and who has 
made herself a leader in this body and a leader in Texas, and for 
bringing us all here tonight as part of Women's History Month.
  Madam Speaker, I am rising alongside my pro-choice colleagues in 
honoring the women of the reproductive heath, rights, and justice 
movement. Women, like my own mother, who remember being young and 
without choice--without choice over their bodily autonomy. Women like 
my own mother who marched for women's rights, who remember when Roe v. 
Wade came down.
  Madam Speaker, I am here today to rise for the brave providers, the 
fierce advocates, the trailblazing women of color who established the 
principles and coined the terms, and all those who believe in a society 
where women are entitled to make personal decisions about their bodies, 
work, families, and futures.
  For those who agreed to become the face of legal challenges to 
abortion access, the litigators who helped shape the arguments that 
became the legal fabric of protections for reproductive rights, and the 
women who have served as the jurists and the justices who wrote 
landmark defenses of these rights. We must protect their progress from 
destructive efforts in the States to overturn precedent that has saved 
countless lives and determined countless futures.
  Rights are under attack. For nearly 6 months now, patients in Texas 
have been denied a constitutional right to an abortion due to a 
statewide law designed to restrict, shame, and penalize those who dare 
to terminate a pregnancy that they do not wish to carry to term.
  Just last week, Idaho became the first State to copy Texas' model. We 
stand here in this Chamber across the street from another body of 
governance, our courts, the Supreme Court that might overrule Roe v. 
Wade. If it is overturned by the United States Supreme Court, my home 
State of Michigan would automatically join that list.
  In fact, if Roe fails, if Roe escapes us, half the States in this 
Union will ban abortion entirely, leaving even more people across large 
swaths of the Midwest and South without access to care. This is not 
just an issue of bodily autonomy, my friends, it is an economic issue.
  The U.S. is the only industrialized Nation without Federal paid leave 
policy, the emergence of COVID-19 has shown us the consequences of that 
foundational failure. Who are we to become? What Nation are we that 
will not stand up for its people's rights and the success of their 
families?
  We all know that women have been disproportionately impacted by this 
pandemic, being forced to leave the workforce at record rates. When 
childcare and abortion services are both out of reach, a parent's 
financial future and ability to participate in our economy is severely 
jeopardized.
  Let us not forget that the individual's most harmed by abortion 
restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing 
healthcare, including women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ 
community, immigrants, young people, those living in rural communities, 
and people with disabilities. This is a wake-up moment in this Nation. 
We are here not just for history, but for our future.
  When I was elected to Congress, on behalf of Michigan's 11th 
District, becoming the first women ever to represent Michigan's 11th 
District. Sure, let's be proud then as we are now for the unprecedented 
number of women who are serving in this body. Those who are 
unequivocally claiming that we have the right to choose. Abortion is 
healthcare. Hear us say that in the Chamber and on this floor. All 
women must be able to make the decision that is best for them, their 
family, and their body.
  Congress has a responsibility to stand with people in communities 
fighting for racial, economic, and reproductive justice, and we must 
commit to protecting the right of every person to make their own 
decisions about their bodies, free from discrimination and political 
interference.
  It is with immense gratitude and reverence that I join my colleagues 
in honoring the women who have made it possible for so many of us to 
stand here today--to be here today. During Women's History Month, let 
us all recommit to supporting the activism, the organizing, the efforts 
all around this country, those who are watching and who are counting on 
us.
  Madam Speaker, we will vote today, we will vote tomorrow, and we will 
continue to do the work of the people.
  Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Veasey).
  Mr. VEASEY. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend from Houston 
(Mrs. Fletcher) for putting this together because this is hugely 
important as we wind down Women's History Month.
  I think about my first term here in Congress, and previous to serving 
in Congress I was in the State legislature. The Republicans in the 
Texas State legislature were always trying to tear down women's 
reproductive rights. It seemed like there was just an endless supply of 
bills that they had aimed at stripping away freedom from women across 
our State.
  I was giving a speech out on the triangle and momentarily thought 
that I was back in Austin and accidentally referred to myself as State 
Representative Marc Veasey, just because when you think about D.C. and 
the various States that are here, you think about people being able to 
celebrate those sorts of freedoms.
  We are fighting that battle not just in Austin but in D.C. and other 
States around the country. But today we are here to focus on Texas. 
Again, I just want to thank Lizzie Fletcher and the other women that 
are a part of the Texas delegation.
  Madam Speaker, I also want to thank the female State representatives 
in the State of Texas that really have just fought fearlessly on this 
issue for so long now. This past regular legislative session so many of 
the women in the north Texas delegation, where I am from, were very 
poignant in making so many points about how S.B. 8, a sweeping anti-
abortion law, was going to disproportionately impact low-income and 
women of color and minority communities.
  Imagine just barely being able to get by; you may be on SNAP; you may 
be a single mother; you may find yourself trapped in a low-income job 
and trying to accumulate enough money to be

[[Page H3966]]

able to travel across State lines. You could have these services and 
get them done safely. It is sad to see us go back in time to where 
women were not able to have these services done safely. That is 
something that we have to continue to fight against, and that is why--
whatever it takes--we need to make sure that this bill one day is 
reversed.
  Passing the Women's Health Protection Act would codify Roe v. Wade 
and ensure that people can have the freedom to make personal decisions. 
I think that is something that everybody--regardless if you are 
Democrat, Republican or Independent, whatever you may happen to be--you 
ought to have the choice to make personal decisions. It used to be 
something that Republicans used to value, and it is sad to see them 
backslide so much in this area.
  We need to make sure that we protect equal access to abortion care 
everywhere because it is essential to social and economic 
participation, reproductive autonomy, and the right for people to 
determine their own lives.
  One of the things that really doesn't get talked a lot about on this 
issue is just really the number of Republicans that are against any 
sort of birth control. I see them, they come to my town hall meetings. 
They don't like to talk about it because they know that most people 
overwhelmingly, Democrats and Republicans, are for birth control. You 
hear them, they come and they say, no, no, no, birth control is wrong.
  We had a lawsuit filed in Fort Worth in Federal Court to try to stop 
people from being able to get birth control. People need to understand 
that this is a larger battle. Right now it is abortion access, but 
believe me, Republicans have their sights set on people not being able 
to have basic birth control, just basic contraceptions, and they are 
trying to make that harder and harder for people to get a hold of. It 
is a slippery slope.
  Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Houston, Lizzie 
Fletcher, for leading this hour because it is hugely important.
  Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Veasey and I join him in 
his remarks that we are so grateful to our State legislators and the 
Members of our Texas delegation as we face these challenges at home.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. 
Manning).
  Ms. MANNING. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Fletcher for 
holding this very important session.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the healthcare providers who 
have dedicated their lives working to ensure equitable access to 
reproductive healthcare.
  Today I am honored to highlight the work and courage of Susan Hill of 
North Carolina, the former president of the National Women's Health 
Organization in North Carolina, and a fierce advocate for abortion 
access and reproductive rights.
  Susan opened clinics across the country to ensure that women could 
access the healthcare they need, including abortion care, with dignity 
and safety. She focused her work on providing reproductive health 
services in the Southeast, despite onerous restrictions, so that 
pregnant women could make the best healthcare decisions for themselves 
and their families no matter where they lived.
  In fact, Susan Hill founded Jackson Women's Health Organization, 
which is now the last remaining health center providing abortions in 
Mississippi. This very clinic is at the center of the case directly 
challenging Roe v. Wade that is currently before the Supreme Court.
  If the Court decides to uphold Mississippi's abortion ban and gut 
Roe, it will be overturning nearly 50 years of judicial precedent and 
undermining women's fundamental right to make their own personal 
decisions about their bodies, their families, their futures.

                              {time}  2000

  Susan Hill never wavered in her commitment to protecting patients' 
autonomy and safety, even as anti-abortion protestors used arson, fire 
bombing, and countless acts of vandalism to intimidate her into closing 
down her clinics.
  Today, the stakes for reproductive freedom are more dire than ever 
before. Extreme abortion bans and medically unnecessary restrictions 
are sweeping our country and posing an enormous threat to women's 
health and constitutional rights. Decimating abortion access diminishes 
our equality under the law.
  The consequences of these egregious attacks most acutely impact 
communities of color and underserved communities which already face 
barriers to healthcare.
  Healthcare cannot just be for the few, as the legacy of Susan Hill 
reminds us. All people deserve access to the reproductive care they 
need, free from political interference, discrimination, and harassment.
  Years ago, I spoke on a panel about abortion rights with a physician 
who had done his residency in Philadelphia before the passage of Roe v. 
Wade. He told us about his experience working in the emergency room, 
trying to save desperate women who were near death from botched back-
alley abortions, women who suffered irreparable damage, women who 
didn't make it.
  And he told us that history has shown there will always be abortions. 
The only question is whether abortions will be safe and whether they 
will be available to those who are faced with terribly difficult 
choices.
  We must ensure that all people have the right to control their own 
reproductive decisions, and have the right to the reproductive 
healthcare they need.
  I am proud to recognize a fellow North Carolinian, Susan Hill, and to 
share her commitment to ensuring that abortion rights are protected, 
and comprehensive reproductive healthcare is accessible to all who need 
it.
  Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Manning for the 
important points that she made, talking about the importance of access 
to safe abortions.
  Even today, the World Health Organization estimates that 47,000 women 
die from unsafe abortions each year. That is 13 percent of maternal 
deaths worldwide.
  Madam Speaker, at this time, I yield to the gentlewoman from New 
Hampshire (Ms. Kuster).
  Ms. KUSTER. Madam Speaker, as an adoption attorney for 25 years, I 
worked with more than 300 birth mothers making the most personal, 
private decisions of their entire lives. They consulted their families, 
their loved ones, their doctors, but not one of these birth mothers 
looked to the government to make this choice for them.
  On January 1 of this year, sweeping abortion restrictions took effect 
in my home State of New Hampshire; in fact, the first abortion ban ever 
to pass the New Hampshire legislature and to be signed into law by our 
Governor, Chris Sununu, making it illegal to terminate a pregnancy 
after 24 weeks, with no exceptions; no exceptions for rape, for incest, 
or for fatal fetal anomaly; and requiring every person seeking an 
abortion to undergo an invasive ultrasound.
  This new law places a felony penalty and fine of up to $100,000 for 
doctors who violate the law, making New Hampshire a less desirable 
place for doctors to work, and for patients to seek care.
  Granite State women and families are already feeling the impact of 
this harmful, regressive abortion ban.
  Earlier this year, a constituent of mine, the daughter of a dear 
friend, reached out to tell me her story and how this law is impacting 
families like hers across New Hampshire.
  Madam Speaker, 38-year-old Lisa, has a beautiful 1-year-old daughter 
at home and she is now pregnant with twins. Twenty-one weeks into her 
pregnancy, her doctors told her what no parent wants to hear: One of 
her twins had no chance of surviving outside the womb, and that twin 
was threatening the life of her other healthy twin.
  Because of New Hampshire's abortion ban that makes no exceptions for 
late-term complications, fetal viability, or even maternal well-being, 
Lisa and her husband have had to travel out of state to get a second 
opinion on their options.
  After traveling four States away for a specialist consultation, they 
learned that an abortion had the potential to save the healthy twin's 
life, and even the life of the mother. But in the time that it took to 
get this second opinion and to weigh her options, Lisa was past the 24-
week threshold in New Hampshire, and she will be unable to get this 
treatment, even if it becomes medically necessary.

[[Page H3967]]

  If Lisa chooses to deliver her healthy twin in New Hampshire, she 
runs the risk of losing both babies, and even her own life, as her 
doctors would not be allowed to perform an abortion, even to save her 
healthy twin's life or her own life.
  Lisa and her family are already facing an impossible circumstance, 
which is being made even more excruciating by the New Hampshire extreme 
abortion ban.
  Safe access to reproductive and preventative healthcare, including 
abortion, is essential to the health and well-being of women and their 
families in New Hampshire and throughout this country. Restrictions on 
access to reproductive care ignore the complexities of maternal health 
and threaten the life of countless mothers and their children.
  New Hampshire's new abortion ban, and those like it across the 
country, are harming families, and putting politics above health and 
science. This I know: New Hampshire voters believe in less government 
interference in people's personal and private lives.
  I want to thank Lisa for sharing her story, and for shedding light on 
the tragic impact that this abortion ban is having on mothers and 
grandmothers and husbands and families like her across the Granite 
State and throughout this country.
  Madam Speaker, I thank the representative from Texas for this 
opportunity.
  Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Kuster for her 
leadership and for her impactful story here tonight, one of the many 
women of this reproductive rights movement.

  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Lois 
Frankel).
  Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida. My, my, my, Madam Speaker. Here we go 
again.
  I thank my friend from Texas for yielding. I keep saying that I think 
Texas and Florida, we are in the race, the race for the worst. I don't 
know who is winning that one.
  But like the gentlewoman, those of us in Florida, we have been stuck 
in an unfortunate situation, battling with a State government that is 
actively harming the people they are supposed to protect and it is 
especially true when it comes to abortion care.
  They call us the so-called Freedom State. We are the Freedom State, 
which means that the Republican legislature and the Governor believe 
they have the freedom to deny people the freedom to make one of life's 
most personal decisions, and that is whether to bring a child into the 
world.
  Madam Speaker, I remember the days before Roe v. Wade, and I was 15 
years old, and I--literally, one of my friends was missing for a day, 
so I went looking for her and I found her in a bed covered with blood. 
And what had happened is she had had a back-alley abortion, nearly 
died. We got her to the hospital in time, but how I wish she could have 
gone and gotten proper care. That is just an example.
  Here's the thing. You can have all the laws you want to outlaw 
abortion. You are not going to stop abortion. All these laws do are try 
to stop illegal abortion, and they unfairly burden the people with the 
least amount of money, because if you are wealthy you find a place 
where you can get a safe abortion.
  But I want to say, I really come to this as a mother, and as a 
grandmother. Those who know me know that I--and my grandchildren call 
me Lolo. I come to this as a Lolo. Really, it is the best part of my 
life. What a blessing my son is to me and my two grandchildren.
  But I also know the responsibility. I know the responsibility, which 
really brings us to why we are here today because, whether or not to 
bring a child into the world, as I mentioned, I think is one of the 
most important personal decisions that a person makes.
  They shouldn't have to call their Congressperson, their Governor, 
their State legislature.
  So tonight, I want to thank the gentlewoman because we are 
recognizing those people that we know in our community who have really 
been advocates or providers for the healthcare that people deserve and 
need.
  So I am going to recognize two courageous leaders from my home State 
of Florida, champions for women's access to full healthcare, not just 
abortions, which should be part, but all kinds of care. And they are 
Lillian Tomayo and Mona Reis.
  And like the gentlewoman's advocates that she talked about tonight, 
they are fighting against, they have been fighting against an unending 
tide of terrible State laws that try to undermine reproductive freedom.
  And once again, once again, this time we are following Texas, we are 
on the cusp of enacting a dangerous restrictive abortion ban, which is 
a ban on abortion after 15 weeks that is now awaiting our Governor's 
certain signature.
  But for decades, Lillian and Mona, in their own capacities, have 
fought hard for reproductive freedom in our State. For more than 20 
years, Lillian has been advocate for women, teens, the LGBTQ community 
as president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of South, East, and North 
Florida.
  And Mona Reis is the founder of the Presidential Women's Center in 
Palm Beach County. She ran that for about 40 years, and she faced 
threats, arson.
  There was a period of time, even today, abortion providers are under 
danger. Some have even been murdered.
  But both have persisted. They have persisted to make sure our 
underserved communities have access to the healthcare that they need. 
And they have been essential in providing access to reproductive care, 
and the freedom that people deserve in our State.
  Each are going on a new journey, but they leave a legacy of 
unrelentless pursuit of reproductive freedom. I say thank you to Mona 
and to Lillian.
  Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Frankel for 
sharing her stories from Florida.
  At this time, it is a pleasure to yield to the gentleman from the 
great State of Texas (Mr. Green).

                              {time}  2015

  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for 
yielding the time.
  Madam Speaker, and still I rise. I rise tonight to take a stand on 
behalf of the pro-choice movement and women who have had to make the 
choice, women who have had to make this tough decision, this choice.
  Let's get the record straight. Henceforth and forevermore, let it be 
known that you are either pro-choice or you are anti-choice.
  It is easy to be anti-choice when you don't have to make the choice. 
It is easy to be anti-choice when it is not your wife who was raped. It 
is easy to be anti-choice when it is not your daughter who has had the 
incestuous relationship, without her permission, I always say. But even 
with her permission, it is wrong.
  It is easy to make the choice when it is not your child or your wife. 
You can be anti-choice then. But I only wonder how many persons who 
have been anti-choice, when confronted with having to make this choice, 
became pro-choice. We will never know. You can be anti-choice before 
the public and then pro-choice when it serves your purpose.
  I sincerely believe, Madam Speaker and Mrs. Fletcher, that the long 
arm of the law has no place in a woman's womb. This is not where the 
law belongs. This is the property of a woman, and she should make these 
decisions herself with those who she has trust in, those who care for 
her, those who she believes will help her to come to the right 
conclusions.
  I stand for those who are pro-choice. For those who are anti-choice, 
I say: Thank God you have not had to make the choice.
  Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Green.
  Madam Speaker, I have worked closely with my colleagues in the Pro-
Choice Caucus to identify stories that need to be told during this 
Special Order hour this evening. I am grateful to my colleagues who 
have taken to the floor this evening to share with us the stories of 
their constituents, to share with us the stories of those who they know 
have been fighters for reproductive rights, for reproductive justice, 
for choice.
  One of our Pro-Choice Caucus leaders could not be with us tonight but 
has submitted a statement for the record that I would like to read now. 
From Representative Judy Chu:
  ``I rise today to honor the women of the abortion rights movement who

[[Page H3968]]

have come before us. I remember what it was like before the days of 
Roe. So today, I am helping to remember and honor those who gave their 
lives, who put their own bodies in harm's way so that we might have the 
ability to decide what to do with ours.
  ``Women like Pam, who lives in my district in Pasadena, California--
Pam is in her seventies, retired, and spends her time volunteering in 
her community. But Pam told me about a time when she was 22 years old. 
It was 1969, and even though she and her partner had been using birth 
control, Pam found out she was pregnant.
  ``This happened in the days before Roe v. Wade, which meant that her 
options were limited. That is how Pam found herself standing on the 
curb of an airport in Mexico City, waiting for someone to pick her up. 
Finally, a large black car came up and rolled down the window. `Are you 
Pam?' the driver asked. `Yes,' she replied, and got in the car, forced 
to trust and hope for the best. Thankfully, Pam wasn't hurt during this 
experience, but she told me she has never forgotten the fear and 
uncertainty of putting her life in the hands of a stranger who could 
have hurt her and abused her, especially when we know that this is a 
procedure that is safe and can be done in a doctor's office, not 
someplace unknown and unsafe.
  ``That is why, now, Pam is determined to ensure that no one ever 
feels as scared and alone as she did that day. Pam volunteers at the 
Planned Parenthood Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley, serving as a 
support system to women who need a hand to hold or a shoulder to lean 
on. Pam is an abortion advocate in her community because she believes, 
like I do, that everyone, no matter where they grew up, what language 
they speak, or how much money they make, deserves to have a say in what 
happens to their bodies.
  ``I rise today, as part of Women's History Month, to honor Pam and so 
many others like her who were forced to make history so that others 
could have the choices that they were denied. The fight for 
reproductive rights would not be where it is today without advocates 
like Pam who stand up, time and time again, and demand that women have 
the right to decide.''
  Madam Speaker, this evening, the Pro-Choice Caucus and I also want to 
recognize the women who launched and built the groundbreaking 
reproductive justice movement. While women of color have long fought 
for these principles, ``reproductive justice'' as a term was coined in 
1994 when a group of Black women gathered in Chicago ahead of the 
International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo.
  Loretta Ross is one of a number of women who built the reproductive 
justice movement. She was part of the 1994 meeting and went on to co-
found the organization SisterSong, which defines ``reproductive 
justice'' as the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy; to 
have children, not have children; and to parent the children we have in 
safe and sustainable communities.
  A scholar who teaches both at Smith College and who has published 
extensively on reproductive justice, she recently testified at the 
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in this legislative 
session.
  Dorothy Roberts is another pioneer of the reproductive justice 
movement. From Pennsylvania, she is also considered one of the leaders.
  There have been many leaders in our government and in our communities 
who we celebrate tonight. We, in the Pro-Choice Caucus, have identified 
a few women who we want to highlight this evening.
  I will start with some of the lawmakers and legislators who helped 
pave the way, including Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected 
to Congress in 1968. She was also the first Black woman to run 
for President. Throughout her trailblazing career, she was a strong 
supporter of reproductive rights.

  In 1969, she was named honorary president of the National Abortion 
Rights Action League, NARAL. In 1970, she supported legalized abortion 
in her home State of New York. In 1970, she described abortion as an 
issue of economic and racial justice.
  Louise Slaughter, a longtime Member from New York and chairwoman of 
the Rules Committee, during her long tenure in Congress, served as a 
founder and co-chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus.
  In addition to championing legislation to protect and expand access 
to abortion and contraception, Representative Slaughter condemned 
efforts to expand the so-called conscience protections at the expense 
of healthcare access and was an early leader on marriage equality.
  First elected in 1972, Pat Schroeder was one of only 14 women in the 
House at the time of the January 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. When a male 
colleague asked her how she could be a mother of two small children and 
a Member of Congress at the same time, she famously replied: ``I have a 
brain and a uterus, and I use both.''
  Other figures who are large in the women's reproductive rights 
movement, of course, must include Ellen Malcolm, who, in 1985, led a 
group of friends in creating an organization dedicated to electing pro-
choice Democratic women, giving them the credibility and resources that 
they needed through her organization, EMILY's List.
  We began this evening talking about Sarah Weddington, and there are 
many lawyers and judges who have been a part of this movement at some 
time in their careers, including, famously, of course, Justice Ruth 
Bader Ginsburg, Kathryn Kolbert, Priscilla Smith, and Linda Coffee.
  Of course, we heard from several people tonight, several of our 
Members, about the work done in their local communities at Planned 
Parenthood health centers across the country. As we touch on some of 
these important women leaders in our community and our country, we 
certainly recognize the leadership that we have seen at Planned 
Parenthood health centers, including Faye Wattleton, who was the first 
Black woman to serve as the president of the Planned Parenthood 
Federation of America, as well as the youngest; Cecile Richards, who 
was president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the 
Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and she is the daughter of the late 
Texas Governor, another champion for reproductive rights, women's 
rights, and women's equality, Ann Richards.
  Alexis McGill Johnson, the current president and CEO of the Planned 
Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action 
Fund, is in charge of and oversees Planned Parenthood's vital health 
services to 2.4 million people each year through more than 600 health 
centers across the country. She is a champion for social and racial 
justice, a respected political and cultural organizer, and a tireless 
advocate for reproductive freedom.
  The National Abortion Rights Action League, which I mentioned 
earlier, has always had an incredible role to play in the fight for 
reproductive rights. Its leaders--Karen Mulhauser, Nanette Falkenberg, 
Kate Michelman, Nancy Keenan, Ilyse Hogue, and, today, Mini Timmaraju--
have left an incredible mark.
  The Guttmacher Institute and its current leadership under Dr. 
Herminia Palacio--the Guttmacher Institute's mission is to advance 
sexual and reproductive health and rights in the United States and 
across the globe.
  There are so many people, so many women, who have come together 
around these issues, who have come together to protect the health, the 
equality, the autonomy, and the dignity of women across this country. 
Whether named or not this evening on the floor, those are the people 
who we celebrate tonight.
  Madam Speaker, we began this hour with a celebration of trailblazing, 
fearless women from my home State of Texas. I am so grateful to my 
colleagues from Texas who joined me this evening and to my colleagues 
from across the country who spoke out tonight.
  Today in Texas, and across the country, reproductive rights are under 
attack. The passage of the draconian Senate Bill 8 in Texas, which 
Representative Stevens discussed, which Representative Veasey 
discussed, has created a healthcare crisis for women and healthcare 
providers across our State. Sadly, but not surprisingly, other States 
are quickly following suit.
  As we have seen, and as we have heard from some of our colleagues 
this evening, it is not merely abortion. Advocates with cases pending 
before the

[[Page H3969]]

United States Supreme Court today, including Dobbs v. Jackson Women's 
Health Organization, are arguing that the protections recognized in Roe 
v. Wade and Griswold v. Connecticut, which gave married couples the 
right to use birth control, that those principles should be rejected.
  This is alarming. This is terrifying. This is not what the majority 
of Americans want. It is not what people have fought so hard for so 
long to achieve.
  That is why it is so important that this evening we remember and 
honor the work that people have done to ensure reproductive rights, 
reproductive health, and reproductive justice. It is also important 
that we recommit ourselves to continuing that work.
  As my colleagues noted, in September, thanks to the leadership of 
Representative Judy Chu and the Pro-Choice Caucus, the House passed the 
Women's Health Protection Act to protect the right to access abortion 
care against restrictions and bans in every State in our Union.
  Passing this legislation is a critical step toward creating a world 
where every person, whoever they are, wherever they live, whatever 
their circumstances, is free to make the best healthcare and personal 
decisions for themselves, their families, and their futures.
  We must continue to defend and protect the fundamental rights 
essential to our autonomy, our dignity, and our equality that are 
represented in the case of Roe v. Wade and the Women's Health 
Protection Act.
  In times like these, it is important to me to remember, and it is 
important for all of us to remember, that Texas gave us S.B. 8, but it 
also gave us Sarah Weddington, Loretta Ross, Cecile Richards, and so 
many other people who we talked about this evening and who we know have 
been champions for women's health, women's reproductive rights, and 
reproductive justice.

                              {time}  2030

  Mrs. FLETCHER. Like women across the country, from New Hampshire to 
North Carolina to Florida to Michigan to California, all of whom spoke 
this evening, Texas women have fought and will continue to fight for 
the right to safe, legal, accessible abortion care, to reproductive 
healthcare, and to reproductive justice. I am proud to be one of them.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________