[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 80 (Wednesday, May 8, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H2947-H2948]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 GOP ATTACKS ON REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Barragan) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the name of freedom, the 
freedom that women should have to make decisions about their own bodies 
and have that ability, a sacred freedom that House Republicans are 
fighting to take away from your mother, your sister, your daughters, 
and every woman in America.
  This week, Republicans are holding votes to say the government should 
not be involved in households having more efficient appliances, yet 
they have no problem saying government should tell women what to do 
with their bodies and limit their access to women's healthcare.
  While House Democrats will continue to fight to restore Roe v. Wade 
so women have the freedom over their bodies, we must call out the 
extreme Republican agenda that is focused on a nationwide ban to access 
women's reproductive healthcare.
  This assault on women and our freedoms is already underway in many 
Republican-led States where women are now subject to cruel abortion 
bans which have brought fear and danger, but also have brought 
heartbreaking experiences that will have lasting impacts.
  For example, in Mississippi, a 12-year-old rape victim was forced to 
carry a baby to term.
  In Ohio, a woman was criminally charged for having a miscarriage 
after she went to the hospital to seek care when her doctor said that 
the fetus was not viable.
  Republican-controlled States throughout the South and Midwest have 
passed extreme laws that leave no options for women to access 
reproductive healthcare. These women have no choice but to travel 
hundreds of miles to a State where access to care is still available.
  A Missouri woman had to travel to Illinois to save her own life after 
both the States of Missouri and Kansas health systems refused to 
provide care when her water broke at just 4 months and doctors said she 
was at risk of losing her uterus.
  Mothers who cannot afford to travel out of State for reproductive 
care have been forced to endure painful pregnancies and risk their own 
lives when advised of serious consequences.

                              {time}  1100

  Bans make access to reproductive care unobtainable for low-income 
women, many of whom are Latinas and other women of color. Over 6.7 
million Latina women live in States that have banned, or are likely to 
ban, abortions. More than 3 million of these women come from families 
that earn below 200 percent of the poverty line.
  Access to reproductive healthcare is a women's rights issue, and it 
is a racial justice issue.
  Republicans in Congress also want to strip women of their fundamental 
right

[[Page H2948]]

to decide when to start a family. Just look at their policies and their 
voting records.
  Mr. Speaker, 127 House Republicans are cosponsors of a bill that will 
threaten access to IVF nationwide and have blocked legislation by 
Democrats that would protect IVF access, and 195 House Republicans have 
voted against legal contraception. House Republicans voted unanimously 
against the restoration of Roe v. Wade.
  Moreover, extreme MAGA Republicans plan to go further and let States 
monitor women who are pregnant to restrict their ability to access 
reproductive care.
  House Democrats will not stand by and let MAGA Republicans restrict 
the freedom of women from getting the lifesaving care they need. We 
will continue to fight to make reproductive freedom the law of the land 
and allow women to make decisions about their own healthcare again.

                          ____________________