McCollum Statement On Stupak-Pitts Amendment To Health Care Reform

McCollum Statement On Stupak-Pitts Amendment To Health Care Reform

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (MN-4) today entered the following Floor Statement into the Congressional Record regarding the Stupak-Pitts Amendment to the Affordable Health Care for America Act:

Madam Speaker, every member of this House has the right to their own opinions and views on issues related to health care reform -- including women's reproductive health care issues. However, as comprehensive healthcare legislation reaches the House floor for a vote, Congress must not violate the first tenant of the entire reform effort, which is to ensure that no one loses healthcare coverage they currently have.

Today we have an amendment on the floor that bans legal reproductive health care services for woman who pay for their own health insurance. This amendment is wrong, it is dangerous, and it should be defeated.

The opportunity to meet the health care needs of all Americans is the strength of the bill we are debating. I want every American to have access to affordable, quality health care. This amendment and the work of many special interest groups to use this amendment to undermine health care reform is a transparent political game that puts millions of Americans at risk. Single issue political games must not be used to deny health care to millions of Americans.

I would like to submit for the record a statement by a broad coalition of Minnesota religious leaders who call health care reform a matter of social justice that should not be undone by a single issue. These religious leaders understand the complex personal decision making that goes into health care choices, but they also know that Americans without access to health care too often have no choice except to suffer and too often endure conditions that result in severe illness or even preventable death.

These religious leaders are an inspiration to me. They are helping to frame the social, economic, moral and spiritual importance of passing health care reform legislation in Congress.

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