[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 108 (Wednesday, June 21, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2996-H2997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RESTORING AMERICANS' FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Foxx). The Chair recognizes the 
gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, Saturday marks 1 year since the U.S. 
Supreme Court announced its now infamous decision to overturn Roe v. 
Wade, and for the first time in our Nation's history, it took away one 
of America's most fundamental rights: the right to privacy.
  In overturning Roe v. Wade and taking away Americans' right to 
abortion care, the U.S. Supreme Court has rolled back the clock on 
women's rights in this country and put the health and lives of millions 
of women at risk.
  Everybody in this country deserves the freedom to make their own 
healthcare choices. Nobody should have to experience the pain and 
trauma that countless women in this country have now suffered as a 
result of the GOP's efforts to criminalize abortion care in this 
country.
  While poll after poll shows that an overwhelming majority of the 
American public supports women's rights to abortion care, my colleagues 
on the other side of the aisle remain intent on outlawing it once and 
for all.
  We may not have the majority in this Chamber just now, but there is 
no doubt that we have the majority of Americans on our side in this 
fight. If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle aren't willing 
to stand up for the people they represent, then we must.
  Today, Representatives Lee and Chu and I announce that we have filed 
a discharge petition to bring the Women's Health Protection Act up for 
a vote so that we can restore Americans' fundamental rights to abortion 
care.
  This is legislation that was passed by the Chamber not once but twice 
last year. There is no reason why any Member who doesn't have their 
head in the sand shouldn't be ready to support it a third time.
  Now is the time to end the devastation that too many Americans have 
already experienced. Now is the time to let the American public know 
exactly where every Member of this Chamber stands.
  I urge my colleagues to sign this petition that is now at the desk. 
Madam Speaker, 218 of us is all it takes to bring this bill to the 
floor and take us one step closer to ending this nightmare.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).
  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for 
yielding.
  Madam Speaker, never before has this country marked the day that a 
fundamental freedom was taken from us. This Saturday, for the first 
time, we will.
  Almost 1 year ago, the Supreme Court's shameful and unprecedented 
Dobbs decision stripped a constitutional right from all Americans, and 
the harm it triggered has only grown in the year since.

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  We are here to say enough is enough. Extremist Republicans around the 
country created this reproductive healthcare crisis against the will of 
the people with their out-of-touch, anti-choice agenda.
  People should have the right to make decisions over their own bodies, 
especially healthcare decisions, not this body, nor politicians, nor 
Justices. That process has been now aided and enabled by Republicans in 
this Chamber, so it is time for some accountability right here and 
right now. Time to put our Speaker and the Members of his party on the 
record in front of their constituents. It is time, really, to restore 
the right to abortion.
  One year after the fall of Roe, we refuse to back down from the fight 
for reproductive freedom.
  Our bodies, our choices. That is what this, in essence, is about: 
freedom. We are here using every single tool at our disposal to force 
action on this issue.
  I am proud to join with our fellow Pro-Choice Caucus leaders, our 
membership, Representative Diana DeGette and Representative Judy Chu, 
in leading this discharge petition on the Women's Health Protection Act 
and demanding that the Speaker let us vote.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to sign it.
  Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Chu), the author of the Women's Health Protection Act.
  Ms. CHU. Madam Speaker, it has been a year since the Supreme Court 
ripped away the rights of millions of Americans in an instant by 
overturning the constitutional right to abortion care. It has been 
nearly 1 year since American women were forced to live in a country 
where they possessed fewer rights than their grandmothers.
  House Republicans are out of step with the American people when it 
comes to abortion access, but instead of working to restore these 
fundamental freedoms, they have worked to further restrict abortion 
access in this country. That is why we are here today, to take action.
  I am proud to present this discharge petition to force accountability 
for Republican inaction.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.

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