[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 23]
[House]
[Page 30783]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS IN HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Ms. CHU asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. CHU. Last night the Senate stood up for women. Last night the 
Senate rejected an amendment that would have hurt women all across this 
Nation. Though we won the battle, the fight is not over. We must oppose 
the Stupak language in the final health care bill. It was on this House 
floor that we passed the historic health care vote.
  But there is one moment that night that I'll never forget. I'll never 
forget looking up at the vote board and seeing that our House voted for 
the biggest rollback of women's reproductive rights in decades. My 
heart sank. Thirty years ago I got into the women's movement to ensure 
that women would not die in a back-alley abortion with coat hangers.
  Today, women finally have choice over their own bodies, but with the 
Stupak amendment that changes. It was not a compromise. Women will lose 
benefits. Plans will not offer abortion coverage. Women will be forced 
to buy an extra rider for abortion ahead of time. And what woman plans 
to have an abortion?
  Let's not make women the sacrificial lamb of health care reform. 
Let's pass health care reform that benefits all Americans.

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