Stop Project 2025

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Huffman for convening us to discuss this very important topic.

Mr. Speaker, when I was in leadership in the Vermont State Senate, I saw the writing on the wall. I knew that Republicans were absolutely determined to overturn Roe v. Wade.

We knew it was time to act to codify reproductive rights, not just in statute but in our State's constitution. At that time, some colleagues said I was overreacting. They said I was being paranoid, that I was being hysterical. They said the Supreme Court would never overturn Roe v. Wade because it was settled law.

I could say it was not at all satisfying to be right, but, in fact, overturning Roe v. Wade was just the beginning. The GOP is preparing for a possible second Trump term with a plan to end all access to abortion and contraception, all spelled out in the playbook, Project 2025.

Trump's Project 2025 lays out plans to purposely misinterpret an outdated law known as the Comstock Act and use it to ban mailing drugs used in medication abortions and any equipment or any materials used in surgical abortions. They even want to make it illegal to mail any information, period, about abortion.

That is why House Democrats are taking action with a bill that I introduced this year with some very strong cosponsors.

The Stop Comstock Act would take outdated and unconstitutional aspects of the Comstock laws off of the books and protect a woman's access to abortion no matter what town she lives in across this Nation.

We have to use every tool at our disposal to protect access to abortion and all birth control options.

This 150-year-old law was the result of one man's moralistic crusade against everything that he determined to be obscene, including information on abortion and contraception. Republicans know that voters don't support a nationwide abortion ban, so they will misuse this law and bypass Congress to get their way.

Make no mistake, Project 2025 is not about building a future that Americans want or that they have asked for or that they need. It is about taking us back to the 1870s.

Congressional Republicans and their allies in statehouses across the Nation are out of step with Americans. Americans want the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies, and they want these freedoms guaranteed.

No matter how much the former President and House Republicans pretend that their views are moderate, their actions tell us something very different. They have shown us through legislative action that they will continue to enact extreme policies that the vast majority of the American people do not want and that put women's lives at risk.

Overturning Roe v. Wade was the next step in their plan to ban abortion in this country, and they don't appear to care how this hurts women or families.

Donald Trump has repeatedly bragged about being the guy who ended Roe v. Wade, a decision that has cost lives and left women desperate for urgent medical care.

One of the masterminds behind Project 2025 is a man named Jonathan Mitchell. My colleagues may not know this name, but they certainly know his work. Mitchell helped develop Texas' strict anti-abortion law, SB 8. He concocted the very disturbing ``enforcement mechanism'' that allows private citizens to bring lawsuits against those who violate the statute. It is a law that encourages neighbors to spy on each other and calls upon Americans to turn in healthcare providers who rightly and bravely put women's health and safety above extremist policies.

I can't even believe I am saying this in this country in this year. I can't believe that this is where we are.

His intent to misuse Comstock could not be clearer. He said, ``We don't need a Federal [abortion] ban when we have Comstock on the books.'' He said, ``There's a smorgasbord of options.''

These plans spelled out in Project 2025 are sinister, and they have very real consequences, which is why it is so important that we gather tonight to shine a light on this extreme plan.

Mr. Speaker, it is time Republicans abandon their obsession with controlling women's bodies and stop using legislative action to slip parts of Project 2025 into House bills today. The American people do not want that.

Democrats see this. We are standing up for the American people.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source