Absurd Comments About Abortion

Floor Speech

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Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, over the years, I have heard some rather absurd comments from my Republican colleagues about abortion. Some have compared Planned Parenthood to drug dealers, abortion factories, and the Ku Klux Klan. I have even heard grown men debate ``legitimate rape'' on live TV. I have even heard a Republican lawmaker put forth the claim that, if women are allowed to have abortions, men should be allowed to rape.

After nearly 30 years of public office, nothing really surprises me anymore, Mr. Speaker. So you can imagine my lack of astonishment when my dear friend and colleague from Wisconsin, Sean Duffy, rolled out abortion statistics among African American women to lecture Black legislators like myself about defending the welfare of our constituents.

Since the United States Supreme Court ruled in 1963 that women are guaranteed the privacy and power and right to make medical decisions concerning their own bodies, anti-choice legislators have been trying to end safe and legal abortion. A tactic that has been part of their strategy is to use inflammatory, racial arguments, and deceptive claims to stigmatize abortion in communities of color.

I don't expect Representative Duffy to understand why his comments are offensive, but what he and so many of his Republican colleagues fail to acknowledge is the underlying context behind high abortion rates in African American communities.

High rates of abortion are related to poverty and lack of access to quality care. The war on women's health centers has resulted in multiple barriers to accessing quality, affordable health care, which could lead to higher rates of both unintended pregnancy and abortion.

Representative Duffy's hypocrisy on this issue is as predictable as it is offensive. If he truly, truly wants to fight for the hopeless and voiceless, he should join us.

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