Gop Attacks on Reproductive Healthcare

Floor Speech

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Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the name of freedom, the freedom that women should have to make decisions about their own bodies and have that ability, a sacred freedom that House Republicans are fighting to take away from your mother, your sister, your daughters, and every woman in America.

This week, Republicans are holding votes to say the government should not be involved in households having more efficient appliances, yet they have no problem saying government should tell women what to do with their bodies and limit their access to women's healthcare.

While House Democrats will continue to fight to restore Roe v. Wade so women have the freedom over their bodies, we must call out the extreme Republican agenda that is focused on a nationwide ban to access women's reproductive healthcare.

This assault on women and our freedoms is already underway in many Republican-led States where women are now subject to cruel abortion bans which have brought fear and danger, but also have brought heartbreaking experiences that will have lasting impacts.

For example, in Mississippi, a 12-year-old rape victim was forced to carry a baby to term.

In Ohio, a woman was criminally charged for having a miscarriage after she went to the hospital to seek care when her doctor said that the fetus was not viable.

Republican-controlled States throughout the South and Midwest have passed extreme laws that leave no options for women to access reproductive healthcare. These women have no choice but to travel hundreds of miles to a State where access to care is still available.

A Missouri woman had to travel to Illinois to save her own life after both the States of Missouri and Kansas health systems refused to provide care when her water broke at just 4 months and doctors said she was at risk of losing her uterus.

Mothers who cannot afford to travel out of State for reproductive care have been forced to endure painful pregnancies and risk their own lives when advised of serious consequences.

Bans make access to reproductive care unobtainable for low-income women, many of whom are Latinas and other women of color. Over 6.7 million Latina women live in States that have banned, or are likely to ban, abortions. More than 3 million of these women come from families that earn below 200 percent of the poverty line.

Access to reproductive healthcare is a women's rights issue, and it is a racial justice issue.

Republicans in Congress also want to strip women of their fundamental right to decide when to start a family. Just look at their policies and their voting records.

Mr. Speaker, 127 House Republicans are cosponsors of a bill that will threaten access to IVF nationwide and have blocked legislation by Democrats that would protect IVF access, and 195 House Republicans have voted against legal contraception. House Republicans voted unanimously against the restoration of Roe v. Wade.

Moreover, extreme MAGA Republicans plan to go further and let States monitor women who are pregnant to restrict their ability to access reproductive care.

House Democrats will not stand by and let MAGA Republicans restrict the freedom of women from getting the lifesaving care they need. We will continue to fight to make reproductive freedom the law of the land and allow women to make decisions about their own healthcare again.

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