Disapproval of District of Columbia Reproductive Health Non-Discrimitation Amendement Act of 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise to express my opposition to H.J. Res. 43, a bill that aims to overturn the Reproductive Health Non-discrimination Amendment Act (RHNDA) which was recently passed by the DC City Council.

The purpose of the RHNDA is to prevent DC employers from discriminating against workers for making personal reproductive health decisions that conflict with the expressed values of their employer. For example, the law prevents the firing of an employee for getting pregnant outside of marriage.

Supporters of H.J. Res. 43 say the bill's intent is to protect the rights of employers who do not want to be forced to support the reproductive decisions of their employees. However, the RHNDA imposes no new requirements on employers to provide health insurance and does not change the insurance policies of current workers in any way. RHNDA's aim is simply to ensure that workers are judged based on their work decision-making, rather than on their personal health decision-making.

This Republican bill is not only an assault on workers' rights; it is also an assault on the rights of self-determination of the people of Washington D.C. Why should an Idaho congressman be able to overturn the unanimous decision of an elected body which is simply expressing the will of the DC voters that elected it?
For these reasons, I oppose this bill and I encourage my colleagues to do the same.

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