[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 81 (Thursday, May 12, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H4869-H4870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      EXTREMELY DANGEROUS DECISION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Pingree). The Chair recognizes the 
gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Mrs. Trahan) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. TRAHAN. Madam Speaker, yesterday, our colleagues in the Senate 
held a key vote on legislation to codify women's reproductive rights 
that have been guaranteed under Roe v. Wade for the past 50 years.
  Senators had the opportunity to go on the record to show their 
support for protecting the health and safety of every woman in America. 
That vote failed.
  Madam Speaker, 51 Senators voted against the Women's Health 
Protection Act, joining the 211 House Members who, in the wake of the 
Supreme Court's draft opinion overturning Roe, support rolling back 
women's rights.
  Madam Speaker, as a woman, I am horrified by what has taken place in 
the past week. As a mom, I am terrified for what the future holds for 
my two young girls.
  As a Member of this body, I am infuriated by those who will stand 
here on this floor in the people's House and tell women that the rights 
we have cherished for the past 50 years were a mistake, that they 
should be undone with the stroke of a pen.
  Make no mistake: This decision from the Supreme Court, or anything 
remotely close to it, is extremely dangerous. For tens of millions of 
women, it will mean losing access to lifesaving reproductive health 
services, and it will happen overnight.
  In States like Texas and Alabama, it will mean that the victims of 
rape or incest will be forced to carry their traumatic, unwanted 
pregnancies to term.
  To my colleagues who support that kind of future, I ask you if you 
can face your mother and explain to her why, if you can look at your 
daughter or your granddaughter in the eyes and say that she doesn't 
deserve the same rights as her brothers or her male classmates.
  Over the past week, I have heard those who support Judge Alito's 
draft opinion in my home State say that we live in Massachusetts, so we 
don't have anything to worry about. However, that stance is flawed.

[[Page H4870]]

  Yes, women in Massachusetts and other States that have done the right 
thing by codifying Roe will be safe, but for how long? Anti-choice 
activists and elected officials across the country, including many in 
this Chamber, have made it clear that they want to ban every woman in 
America from accessing abortion care.
  They don't care about States' rights. They want to override State 
laws that protect our reproductive rights because they want to 
eliminate our ability to control our own bodies.
  Well, I have news for those folks. History has shown us, with brutal 
clarity, that you will never ban abortions. You will just ban the safe 
ones.
  Women, particularly women of color and those from low-income 
backgrounds, will be forced into the alleys for their abortion care. 
Many women will die from unsafe procedures.
  While families mourn an empty seat at the dinner table, the 
wealthiest in America, including many who cheered on Judge Alito, will 
find ways to access that same care. But they will do it in secret to 
avoid the prosecution they want for others and the display of their own 
hypocrisy.

                              {time}  1100

  That is not the America I want my girls to grow up in. It is not the 
country I want for any of our daughters to grow up in.
  So I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to stop 
thinking about the political ramifications of supporting women and to 
start thinking about what could happen to the women in your own life if 
you succeed.
  There is still time to do the right thing. So join us, or at the very 
least, get out of our way. Our daughters are depending on us.

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