[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 4353-4354]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       FREEDOM OF THE INDIVIDUAL

  (Mr. BERA of California asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BERA of California. Mr. Speaker, today, I want to speak about a 
case the Supreme Court is going to hear in a week, the Hobby Lobby 
case.
  As a doctor, I took an oath to provide my patients with the best 
medical advice possible and empower them to make the decisions that 
impact their

[[Page 4354]]

lives and to put them in charge. Women should be free to make the 
health care decisions that work best for them and respect their own 
faith and personal circumstances.
  Allowing bosses to pick and choose the health care their employees 
receive sets a very dangerous precedent that could have far-reaching 
consequences. That is why the Hobby Lobby case that will be argued 
before the Supreme Court later this month is so important.
  CEO David Green may oppose birth control--and that is his personal 
decision--but individual Hobby Lobby employees have their own moral and 
religious views, and they shouldn't have to subscribe to his.
  This case isn't about the rights of corporate CEOs. It is about the 
rights of workers and patients everywhere. It is about the individual 
freedom to choose and make your own health care decisions.
  We need to stop bosses and out-of-touch politicians who want to come 
into our exam room and make those health care decisions. Let's keep 
these bosses out of the exam room and allow women to make the health 
care decisions that impact their own lives.

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