Providing for Consideration of H.R. 358, Protect Life Act

Floor Speech

Ms. MOORE. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I raise this point of order that H.R. 358 contains several potential unfunded mandates that would burden the States, burden private insurance companies, and burden women. I am also raising this point of order because it is a powerful vehicle to register my concern that this bill is a misguided ideological distraction from what should be our top priority--getting people back to work and protecting working families who have been hit hard by economic circumstances.

It is so clear to me that in spite of what our colleagues may say across the aisle, this bill is not about public funding for abortion. It's really crystal clear, Madam Speaker, that the Affordable Care Act already explicitly prohibits Federal funding for abortion. It reaffirms the Hyde amendment. It even includes the Nelson amendment to ensure that there's no commingling of funds. H.R. 358 would bring back the infamous world of Stupak-Pitts. But this time it adds even more restrictive language to the proposal.

This bill would essentially ban insurance coverage of abortion in health care exchanges, not just for women who are being publicly funded or subsidized in the exchanges, but even for women paying with their own private dollars, Madam Speaker. In addition, H.R. 358 would create a system that plays Russian roulette with pregnant women's lives when they enter a hospital. This would mean that any hospital could refuse to perform an emergency abortion--even if a woman would die without it--without violating the Federal law designed to prevent people from being denied emergency medical care.

It goes even further by paving the way to allow State refusal laws that are not limited to the provision of abortion services, but to anything that would be considered controversial--treatment for STIs, birth control services, screening services, and counseling.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. MOORE. Madam Speaker, I can tell you this bill does waive the health and lives of women if the point of order is not found to be in order.

To sum it up, H.R. 358 is incredibly divisive. It takes away comprehensive health coverage from women in not only eliminating the protections they currently have right now, but going even further than current law and completely undermining women's health.

At a time when the majority should be using its tremendous power to create jobs and turn the economy around, the majority is using its power to turn on women.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Source