Providing for Consideration of H.R. Women's Health Protection Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year Providing for Consideration of H.R. Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act; and for Other Purposes
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule and its underlying legislation. Specifically, I want to highlight H.R. 3755, the Women's Health Protection Act.
The passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg just a year ago removed the last major impediment to an all-out assault by conservative extremists on the freedom of American women to make their own reproductive choices. With the culmination of a decades-long campaign to pack the Supreme Court with far-right abortion foes, championed by The Federalist Society and Mitch McConnell, we have seen a tidal wave of legislation and court cases designed to overturn the constitutional protections outlined in Roe v. Wade.
Those efforts have included S.B. 8, the Texas bill outlawing abortion after 6 weeks and offering a bounty to vigilantes who seek to enforce that ban; the Supreme Court's refusal to block implementation of the Texas law; and the Court's scheduling of a December argument in a case that seeks to overturn Roe v. Wade. They all demonstrate a clear and present threat to women's reproductive rights in this country.
The decision to have, or not to have, a child is deeply personal and may profoundly impact a woman's mental, physical, and financial health and, in some instances, her very life. Women should have the freedom to make personal healthcare decisions with those they love and the doctors they trust, free from undue State interference and invasion of the woman's privacy.
With increasing attacks on women's reproductive freedom, we are once again seeing the urgent need for Federal legislation to codify Roe v. Wade. To ensure that Roe's protections remain, we must absolutely pass the Women's Health Protection Act and protect a woman's freedom to choose a safe and legal abortion, no matter where she lives.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source