Women's Public Health And Safety Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HARRIS. Madam Speaker, look, this bill is very simple. This bill just says that States actually can be partners with the Federal Government and Medicaid. The Federal Government, the Secretary of HHS, doesn't get to tell a State which providers they think are inadequate--yes, inadequate.

Planned Parenthood is not a comprehensive health provider in my district. In the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, they closed the Planned Parenthood in April and said on the Web site: ``You can get services Monday through Friday at the center in Easton, 45 minutes up the road.''

Madam Speaker, if you go up the road today, they are closed. In fact, the center in Easton, funded with Federal dollars, is open 2 days a week. That clinic is empty the rest of the time. Federal dollars are paying for an empty clinic that doesn't deliver comprehensive care.

Madam Speaker, you may have heard somewhere that Planned Parenthood provides mammograms. Nonsense. Even Planned Parenthood executives say they don't have a mammogram machine in the entire system. They don't provide mammograms.

The only method for breast cancer screening that actually results in decreased deaths from breast cancer, the only method--mammograms--they don't even provide at Planned Parenthood. They say: Oh, but you can be referred.

Actually, Madam Speaker, the law is you don't need a referral for a mammogram screening. That is the law. You don't need a referral. Any woman can go get a mammogram screening as long as she is within the screening guidelines without a referral.

So exactly what is this magic that Planned Parenthood provides?

The gentlewoman from New York said it fills a gap that community health centers can't fill. Nonsense. Community health centers can provide mammograms. They can provide breast cancer screenings, cervical cancer screenings, contraceptives, birth control.

The only thing they don't do is they don't provide abortions outside the limits of the Hyde amendment, and they don't sell baby body parts.

Oh, that is right. I guess if selling baby body parts is what is important about women's health care, then you are right. You have got to go to a Planned Parenthood to get it. You can't get it at a community health center.

Remember, there are 13,000 community health centers providing the broad range, the truly broad range, of health care, not health care that you have to leave, by the way. Maybe you approach some age, you are younger than some age, and you don't go to Planned Parenthood because it is not comprehensive care. Community health centers are. They were designed that way.

The Affordable Care Act I am no particular fan of. But the fact of the matter is it set these up to be truly comprehensive primary care centers. And there are 20 times as many as there are Planned Parenthoods.

And you know what? My community health center in my district, if you call today, they are actually open. If you call tomorrow, they are open. But Planned Parenthood isn't. If you call Thursday, Planned Parenthood is open for 7 1/2 hours. My community health center is open 8 1/2 hours. If you call Friday, you are out of luck with Planned Parenthood. Madam Speaker, we are paying Planned Parenthood to keep an empty office open that doesn't even provide comprehensive care in my clinic.

Now, the gentlewoman from New York said that, in this bill, you could not provide an abortion. That is nonsense. Read the bill. It says, as long as you provide abortions consistent with the Hyde amendment--that is a rape or incest exclusion or the life of the mother. In fact, the gentlewoman was wrong.

She said lives are threatened. No, Madam Speaker. If lives are threatened, specifically, this bill says the State can choose to fund that provider and can do that.

Madam Speaker, the bottom line is Planned Parenthood--there is only one thing that it does that you don't get--again, I will reiterate--that you don't get--in a community health center.

You can get an abortion usually at any stage of pregnancy for any reason, and you can get your baby's body parts sold in the trafficking of body parts that we saw in those films.

Are those films doctored? They are not doctored. Anyone can go look on the Web site. They are raw footage. People are talking about a Lamborghini from the profits of baby body parts. If that isn't repulsive to us, what is? All this bill does is it allows States to defund that.

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