Protecting Health and Well-Being of Mothers and Children Across Our Nation

Floor Speech

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Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today ahead of the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade to urge my colleagues to take action to protect reproductive freedom, which has been under assault since the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

I was 1 month old when the Roe decision came down, and I had peace of mind when entering my childbearing years that any decision on when to become a mother would be mine, and that any pregnancy-related decisions that I had to make would be between me, my partner, and my medical provider.

Thirteen years ago, I became the first member of the Virginia House of Delegates to be pregnant while in office. As a Black woman in a Nation grappling with a maternal and infant health crisis, I researched everything that could go right and everything that could wrong.

The conversations with my OB opened my eyes to the impact that abortion restrictions can have on pregnancy management decisions, and my doctor shared stories.

My doctor shared stories like Suzie, a married 30-something with a hole in her heart who was on birth control but got pregnant anyway; or Beth, a pregnant woman who developed cancer.

Each faced a heartbreaking choice of whether to terminate the pregnancy or sacrifice her life.

There was Mary, who underwent fertility treatments to have a child and got pregnant with octuplets. The odds of carrying the pregnancy were very low, but if she reduced the pregnancy to two, the odds were better than 50/50 that both would survive.

There was Amy, who suffered an incomplete or missed miscarriage in which the fetus dies but remains in the uterus. Often a medical procedure, an abortion, is required to remove the fetus and the placenta to avoid infection, sepsis, and death.

There was Robin, whose fetus developed the most severe form of spina bifida, with horrific deformities. Her doctor suspected that the baby was already paralyzed from the waist down, and that the paralysis would spread as he grew. He was not expected to survive.

I heard story after story, and I thought about how the abortion restrictions that I saw proposed then in Virginia and across the country would have taken away decisions on the best course of treatment for those patients.

In today's post-Dobbs world, we are witnessing the devastating impacts of restrictive abortion laws on mothers and families across the United States right now.

This anniversary of Roe is an important reminder that we must continue fighting to ensure that every American has access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare, and that we do not insert the judgment of politicians in State legislatures or here in Washington for those of the healthcare providers' and patients' judgment.

During my second pregnancy, I had placenta previa. I was aware of the risks associated with it, but that didn't stop me from being terrified when, 9 weeks before my due date, my placenta ruptured. I was rushed into the hospital and had an emergency C-section.

Both my daughter and I nearly died.

It was one of the scariest days of my life. However, I had peace of mind knowing that my doctor in that moment would make the decision she felt best to provide the treatment necessary based on the standard of care without fear of punishment from politicians if things went wrong.

Thankfully, that delivery was successful and many of you have come to know my daughter, Samantha, as a thriving, precocious, healthy little girl.

However, when she reaches childbearing years, will she have fewer rights than I did when I gave birth to her?

That very thought makes me furious. It makes me livid that I am the first member of my family to lose a constitutional right in my lifetime. That reality has motivated me more than ever to protect reproductive freedom just as I did as a State legislator, passing legislation that makes Virginia the only State in the South without an abortion ban or extreme restrictions post-Dobbs.

I will continue to fight for reproductive freedom for patients and providers to make the choice they believe is best given their necessary circumstances without interference from Washington or State legislatures.

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