Issues of the Day
Floor Speech
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Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I believe we are here today and today is a very heavy day for so many of us across the country.
Every single one of us woke up today with less rights than we had yesterday. Pregnant people, in particular, are in more danger in the United States today than we were yesterday as a result of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
I think what we are experiencing here--it is important to tell the truth of what is going on. With so many individuals out here, I think it is important for us to also tackle this myth that this is somehow about babies or children or life because the same individuals who purport and who claim to be protecting life, fight against universal healthcare.
Do they believe in universal childcare?
Do they believe in life after birth?
From their policy positions, I assure you the evidence is lacking.
A party and individuals who claim to protect the lives of children, just weeks after over a dozen children died in Texas, now claim to support their life--the lives of the young.
Who are we protecting?
Who does this protect?
No one.
Overturning Roe puts every single one of us in danger. What I think many of our colleagues perhaps haven't quite--or perhaps they have-- fully understood is that this also undermines the right to privacy in the United States of America. We are here to solve this issue. Our job is to develop a path forward. In that, we know that this House has passed and is willing to codify Roe.
What we also need is answers from our colleagues in the United States Senate. To those Senators who voted for these Justices under the claim and the guise that this would not happen, this decision falls on them.
What will they do--as they were lied to?
What will they do as a consequence of this decision, whether that be Republican or Democrat?
We cannot allow this to go unanswered. We are talking about a court, with the majority of Justices appointed by a party that has not won a popular Presidential election more than once in 30 years, ruling against the majority of Americans. We have a Senate that is controlled by minority rule. We have a House suffering from the impacts of gerrymandering that amplifies and undermines our democracy.
We are in a very dangerous moment, not just for women, not just for LGBT communities, not just for all of us, but we are in a dangerous moment in the world because this is not just about the right to choose. This is about rule of law and democracy, and who is a full person in the eyes of the law.
To all of those who are watching today's events unfold in fear, in anger, in rage, in depression, in anxiety, one thing remains steady: that we will not stop fighting until this is fixed. I say that to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. We are not going away. We stay. We fight. We push. We will not be silenced.
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