Supporting Constitutional Right to Abortion

Floor Speech

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Ms. DelBENE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.

Last week, the Nation got a shocking glimpse into the nightmare scenario many of us have feared for months. The dangerous draft Supreme Court opinion would overrule nearly 50 years of legal precedent by overturning Roe v. Wade.

This decision would not only reverse Roe, but it mocks it and all those who have defended this fundamental right for half a century.

Should this ruling become final, it will represent the culmination of a decades-long effort by Republicans to undermine the basic human rights of millions of Americans, their privacy, and their bodily autonomy. It breaks my heart that my daughter might soon have fewer rights than I did at her age.

While the draft from the Court would send the question on abortion access back to the States, where over half of women and girls of reproductive age could face immediate bans or limits to this basic medical care, I have no doubt that anti-abortion activists will not stop there.

Republican Governors and State legislators are moving swiftly to pass new abortion bans and restrictions so that they are ready for a final ruling in a few weeks.

Even more terrifying, the Republican leader in the Senate acknowledged that, should they gain control of Congress, they will pursue a nationwide abortion ban. This would be an alarming new level of government interference in the private lives of Americans.

The disdain and disrespect for women are palpable throughout the draft decision, and we cannot allow our country that was founded on freedom and liberty to fall backward.

Americans see this draft for what it is: blatantly political. Nothing in my lifetime would threaten the legitimacy of the Court more than finalizing this decision.

Justice Sotomayor called this out during oral argument when she said: ``Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts? I don't see how it is possible.''

Reading this document reminded me of a mother in my district. She has two healthy children and then became pregnant with a third. The pregnancy was challenging and ultimately threatened her life. She was put in the impossible position of terminating the pregnancy for her own health.

Fortunately, she lived in Washington State, where we have a law that protects the right to an abortion. If she lived in a State without abortion access, her only option would have been to take time off work, find childcare, and make a costly journey to a State where she could get this procedure. This is a burden that many women of color, low- income women, and women living with domestic violence simply cannot bear.

I ask everyone to put yourself in this woman's shoes and ask yourself what you would do if a pregnancy threatened your life. I also ask you to put yourself in the shoes of a woman who became pregnant after being raped and is still expected to carry the baby to term, as would be the case in many States should this decision go forward. These are the decisions I fear too many women in this country will soon be forced to make.

My colleagues on the other side who have pushed for this outcome for decades call themselves pro-life, but I couldn't disagree more. A pro- life party would support children and their mothers; pro-life would support more affordable and accessible childcare; pro-life would support paid family and medical leave.

They have voted time and time again to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits women from being charged more for the same health coverage or insurance companies from deciding a pregnancy is a preexisting condition. Every single one of my Republican colleagues voted against expanding the child tax credit, which in just 6 months lifted 3.7 million children out of poverty and was a historic tax cut for middle-class families. It is their actions that have brought us to this moment.

Finally, this is also an economic issue for women and families. As Treasury Secretary Yellen said recently: ``Eliminating the right of women to make decisions about when and whether to have children would have very damaging effects on the economy and set women back decades.''

This is a woman's decision. I will keep fighting until we pass the Women's Health Protection Act and enshrine this constitutional right into law once and for all.

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