Reproductive Justice for Women
Floor Speech
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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.
Ocasio- Cortez).
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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Pressley for her incredible leadership on this important 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.
Pressley) for closing remarks.
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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.
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