Providing for Consideration of H.R. Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025
Floor Speech
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Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the rule and in strong support of the Women's Health Protection Act.
The Women's Health Protection Act would protect the right to abortion nationwide. It would restore the intensely personal freedom for pregnant people to make decisions about their own bodies.
That is the complete opposite of Trump's Project 2025, the extremist Republicans' agenda for their policies that they want to advance.
Trump's Project 2025 outlines a whole-of-government approach to eliminate the right to abortion. It restricts access to contraception. It calls for the Federal Government to stop enforcing laws that require hospitals to provide emergency care to pregnant people in need of an abortion.
Let me just be clear, Mr. Speaker. This fight is about our fundamental freedoms, the freedom to make choices about our own bodies, our own health, and our own economic future.
I am standing here as one of the one-in-four women in America who has had an abortion myself. I can tell you that these decisions are intensely personal. We do not need an extreme Republican Party trying to control our freedoms.
In my case, I had already experienced a very difficult pregnancy, and my daughter was born prematurely at 26\1/2\ weeks. She was actually just 1 pound, 14 ounces. She was about the size of my hand. She weighed about the same as a small squash, and she literally almost did not survive. My doctors told me that if I were to have another pregnancy it would be extremely high risk both for me and for the child. Hence, I took my daily contraceptive pill that Republicans are trying to get rid of for Americans across this country so that I could protect my health and the health of any future pregnancies.
In fact, what happened was I got pregnant anyway, and my doctor said: You really should have an abortion.
I made that decision with my doctor and with my family.
Why should anyone else be a part of that decision?
It was a hard decision for me, but for every person it should be their choice.
Donald Trump has bragged that he did a ``great job'' getting rid of Roe v. Wade. Well, thanks Donald Trump. Thanks to Donald Trump, one in three women in this country of childbearing age now live in a State with an abortion ban. Thanks to Republicans, a woman who was 20 weeks pregnant when her water broke was told by doctors that the pregnancy was not viable, but still she was not provided the fundamental freedom to do what she needed to do for her health. She was forced to go through the pain of delivering a stillborn child.
Trump's Project 2025 and the Republican policy agenda tells millions of families across this country who want to plan their families that they can't even use contraception or IVF.
This is not theoretical. This is very real.
Just last week J.D. Vance became Donald Trump's running mate; J.D. Vance who thinks abortion is ``comparable'' to slavery, J.D. Vance who has criticized exceptions for even rape and incest, and wants to help Trump and Republicans enact a nationwide abortion ban.
Democrats have a completely different vision. It is in the Women's Health Protection Act, and that is to defend and protect your fundamental freedoms.
Vote ``no'' on this motion.
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