[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 4, 2020)] [House] [Pages H1500-H1502] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE FOR WOMEN The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2019, the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib) is recognized for the remainder of the hour as the designee of the majority leader. Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, today's Special Order is a call for reproductive justice for women, those who can become pregnant and families everywhere who believe, as I do, that reproductive rights are a human right. This Special Order hour comes as the Supreme Court, today, considers yet another attack on our right as women and those who can become pregnant to determine what we do with our own bodies. Worse, it comes less than a month after Senate Majority Leader McConnell's thankfully failed attempt to pass, not one, but two, abortion bans. Never mind the 250-plus bills to reduce prescription drug costs, improve access to the ballot box, and more that would make a real difference in the lives of the American people that he could have taken up; instead, he tried to control women's bodies. The obsession with telling women, transgender folks, and nonbinary people what to do with their own bodies must end. The obsession with trying to legislate what those who can become pregnant can do and cannot do with their own body must end. I represent one of the most beautiful, most Black cities in the country, the city of Detroit. The issue of reproductive justice is one that is very much affecting Black women and women of color and transgender people all around the world. Of all female title X patients, for example, 32 percent are Latinas, 21 percent are Black, and 4 percent are Asian American and Pacific Islander. For the 2 million transgender people in the United States, this funding makes access to the hormone replacement therapy and other transition-related care that they need very much possible for their health. How? With over 100 clinics across 17 States offering HRT, Planned Parenthood is one of the largest transition care providers in the country. This money, this funding that is often threatened by anti- abortion rights advocates is actually a critical source of healthcare for these women who already face health disparities. Indeed, title X providers are one of the few places where women of color can access reproductive and preventive healthcare services. It is really critical in this institution, in this Chamber, that we ensure that those health disparities are not exacerbated by a reduction or revocation of that funding. When we talk about 20-week abortion bans, the stories illustrating why access to them is so important are as heartbreaking as they are harrowing. Take Jenni L. from my home State of Michigan as a perfect example. At her 18-week ultrasound, Jenni and her husband were given the devastating news that their unborn son had severe brain malfunction. For weeks after that appointment, she visited multiple specialists and genetic counselors who all gave her unborn son the same prognosis: He was unlikely to survive a full term. So, at 21 weeks, Jenni terminated her pregnancy. Jenni said: ``Deciding to end my much-wanted pregnancy was difficult and deeply sad, but also deeply personal. At no point during that process did I consider my legislators a part of the conversation. I listened to my doctors, genetic counselors, my family, and my heart.'' Women like Jenni should absolutely have the right to listen to their doctors and their hearts when it comes to the health of themselves, their unborn children, and their bodies. Had the GOP had their way, Jenni would have spent the remainder of her pregnancy term living in fear that at any moment her son would pass away from this awful prognosis or the fear that she would give birth and watch him suffer. As a mother of two boys myself, I cannot imagine what Jenni went through or her emotional trauma as she considered or made that very personal choice. If she had to carry her son or not is up to her. She is just one story of many in which a mother, through no fault of her own, has had to make heartbreaking decisions about her pregnancy. Sadly, nearly 99 percent of abortions actually do occur before this deadline of 20 weeks into pregnancy, but they decide to ignore that. They decide to make this a political issue, and it is not. It is a human issue, a women's issue. For Jenni and the countless other mothers like her, this legislative body must keep their hands off of women's bodies. It is so critically important to know, when we talk about this issue, that it is an economic justice issue. It is a racial justice issue. It is interconnected to so much of what we fight for as women in this country, to have ourselves be able to make very important choices, not only about our jobs, with no fear of discrimination, but also about our health, which is so interconnected to so many other social justice issues that we face. So it is critically important that we really try to push back against this continued agenda that has been politicized and making the issue of choice and the issue of healthcare for women something that they are vilifying and trying to use to a process. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Ocasio- Cortez). Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank my esteemed colleagues, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, for hosting this week's Special Order hour on an issue that is so critically important to all people who want healthcare and need equitable access to reproductive healthcare and justice in the United States. Right now, we are facing a critical juncture in the fight for healthcare and reproductive healthcare in the United States. Louisiana lawmakers designed a law to push abortion out of reach. It compounds the financial barriers of [[Page H1501]] people struggling to make ends meet that they already face when seeking care, including the decades-old Hyde amendment that has long denied affordable abortion care for low-income people. When I think about this issue and when any of us think about this issue, we bring our whole selves to the conversation. When I think about the issue of reproductive healthcare, I bring so much of my experience working in hospitality in restaurants. Working in restaurants is a front line for sexual harassment and sexual assault. Working as a waitress, many of my colleagues were sexually harassed and sexually assaulted. There were days when many of them did not have access to reproductive healthcare or even prenatal healthcare. One woman I know was pregnant and had no healthcare, and she had to show up at free clinics for hours at a hospital waiting for a new doctor every time. Another friend of mine that I had worked with was in an abusive relationship, and, as we all know, reporting rape is a very different issue than accessing reproductive healthcare in time. When we impose things like the Hyde amendment, what we say is that, if you are wealthy and have these conditions, you can have access to reproductive healthcare and an abortion, but, if you are poor, you will not be afforded those same issues. That is what the Hyde amendment is telling the American people and all people who are capable of being pregnant or know a person or are part of a family of someone who is pregnant. It is incredibly important that we advance and uphold issues of economic and racial justice for all people, regardless of their income and regardless of who they are. Right now, choice is the law of the land. That law should be extended to all people, and there is no reason--none--that a Democratic majority should uphold the Hyde amendment in the United States. We have to make sure that all people have access to reproductive justice and reproductive healthcare. Last, but not least, these decisions--oftentimes heart-wrenching--are not decisions to be made between a constituent and a legislator. It is a decision to be made between a person and their doctor. Nobody's healthcare should be up to a senator or their State representative to determine, no less, when so many of these bodies are not representative and do not contain in them people who can become pregnant. People do not understand, so many of the people writing these laws do not understand the scope and the breadth that economic and reproductive justice entails; and, to that, we have to make sure that we eliminate the Hyde amendment and allow all people to have access to the reproductive justice and healthcare that they need. Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Garcia). Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to participate in this conversation about women's rights and access to healthcare services, especially reproductive healthcare services. I want to thank Congresswoman Tlaib and Congresswoman Pressley for their leadership on this matter. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of women's access to reproductive healthcare. The Louisiana law now being argued at the Supreme Court today, in part, is part of an ongoing national effort to effectively ban abortion without formally bringing up Roe v. Wade. Even if the right to abortion technically exists, it won't matter if access to places to get abortion care are eliminated. Republicans have pushed hundreds of restrictive laws throughout State legislatures. If they truly cared about women, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would have voted for equal pay and for the Violence Against Women Act, but they didn't. Instead, in 2020, they are still questioning a woman's constitutional right to safe and legal abortion, which has been the law of the land for over 46 years. They want to turn back the clock and deny women the right to reproductive healthcare, to make choices about their own bodies. For many in my community, this is a deeply personal matter. I took a strong stance on reproductive rights before the issue was widely discussed and acceptable in my own community, but, for me, it has always been impossible to separate the issues of economic justice and reproductive freedom. The ability to control if, when, and how to have children is at the core of women's ability to provide a decent standard of living for themselves and their families. But let me be clear: While abortion access is critical, women of color and other marginalized women also often have difficulty accessing contraception, comprehensive sex education, sexually transmitted infection prevention and care, adequate prenatal and pregnancy care, and so much more. In short, one's socioeconomic and immigration status, ZIP Code, et cetera, should not determine access to reproductive help. Abortion access is a critical step toward achieving true reproductive justice for the communities I represent. If the Supreme Court decides to strip women of their practical access to abortion services, as they are now considering, they will effectively reverse Roe v. Wade and outright deny women the ability to determine their own health, family, and future. {time} 1745 This is an assault on women, an assault on freedom, and an assault on self-determination. Women alone should have the right to choose what is best for them. Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the great State of California (Mr. Lowenthal). Mr. LOWENTHAL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues, Representatives Tlaib and Pressley, for yielding and allowing me to speak. As we all know, this morning the Supreme Court heard the oral arguments in Medical Services v. Russo, a case that challenges the unconstitutional abortion restrictions in Louisiana. The Louisiana law would require abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles or else they must stop providing care. Let's be clear what this is about. This restrictive law is meant to eliminate access to abortion care. In fact, if this law were allowed to stand, all but one of Louisiana's abortion clinics would be shut down. This should be a straightforward decision for the Supreme Court. Three years ago, the Court struck down an identical Texas law in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt. Americans overwhelmingly support abortion access. Nearly 80 percent of Americans do not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned. Polling consistently shows that there is not a single State in the Union where residents want to outlaw abortion. Not one. Reproductive rights are central to individual liberties. What we are talking about are deeply personal decisions that should remain up to the woman, not be decided by politicians. These rights enable women to decide if or if not and how they should start to grow their family. This right should be an absolute right and solely up to women to make their own decisions about their health and their future, and we should respect them for making that decision. Reproductive rights also allow women to control their economic security and make the best choices for themselves and their families. It is not our place--any of us--to decide whether a woman should or should not get an abortion. Abortion remains one of the safest outpatient medical procedures. However, placing the burden of admitting privileges on abortion providers threatens the safety of these procedures. Nearly every professional medical association has said having admitting procedures will not make women safer. But let's be honest. We know there is no medical reason for these outrageously restrictive laws. There are only political reasons behind these moves. Admitting privileges, as we know, are often difficult for abortion providers to obtain, solely because of the ideological opposition to abortion. Therefore, it is imperative that we protect individual liberties and that we protect reproductive rights and reproductive education in order to build healthy communities. Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Pressley for her incredible leadership on this important [[Page H1502]] issue across the world and not just here in the United States. Also, this has been a wonderful experience for all of us new Members to experience a Special Order that has been coordinated and created by the Congressional Progressive Caucus to help many of us be able to give a voice to many folks at home. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley) for closing remarks. Ms. PRESSLEY. Again, I thank Representative Tlaib for cohosting the Special Order hour. This is a joint Special Order hour in partnership with the Congressional Progressive Caucus and also the Pro-Choice Caucus. It is exciting that we are the first pro-choice majority Congress in the history of Congress. As heartened as I am by those who come here to speak, support, to affirm our reproductive rights and freedoms, it is shameful that our reproductive rights are even up for debate. It is 2020. Support for abortion access is at an all-time high. In fact, nearly 80 percent of Americans do not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned. There is not a single State in the Nation where making abortion illegal is popular. But here we find ourselves having to fight back against these insidious efforts to undermine our reproductive rights and freedoms, and we just keep pushing. Just last month the House passed legislation to move us one step closer to ratifying the ERA. So we will just keep speaking out, organizing, and mobilizing when it comes to equality and justice on all fronts. I am glad to see so many of our colleagues here tonight pushing back against these draconian efforts that want to take us backwards. We won't stand for it--not now, not ever. Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good colleague from Massachusetts for her incredible, much-needed voice here in this Chamber. As we all know, this Sunday is International Women's Day. So let's celebrate all the women all over the world who stand up for what they believe in, who speak truth to power, and who fight for their communities as activists, voters, candidates, and elected officials. This International Women's Day I want to uplift an issue that is personal to me and so many of my sisters in service. Violence against women in politics is a global problem. Research shows that women around the world are subjected to physical, sexual, economic, and psychological violence for choosing to participate in politics. When I say around the world, I also mean here in the United States. As one of the first Muslim women in Congress, my family and I face constant death threats and harassment. But this will not stop me from fighting and being a voice for 13 District Strong. But let's be clear. Harassment, abuse, and assault are not the cost of doing politics. Women deserve to have their voices heard. They deserve a seat at the table. So this Sunday for International Women's Day let's finally commit to stopping violence against women in politics. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. ____________________