Protect Life Act

Floor Speech

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

Madam Speaker, there are some days in this Congress I feel like I'm in Alice in Wonderland where logic is turned on its head and all of us have fallen down the rabbit hole. Today is certainly one of those days.

Here we stand on the 282nd day of this Congress, and the House majority has not yet passed a jobs plan. Instead, we have spent all day long once again attacking women's health with a bill that will never become law. A similar bill already passed the House and died in the Senate, and the President has issued a veto threat on this bill even if it did somehow become law.

With only 20 legislative days left this year, the leadership of this body has somehow decided that we should spend the day advancing legislation which would severely compromise women's health.

Madam Speaker, despite the claims from my colleagues across the aisle, this bill does not simply say that there won't be any public funds for abortion. It goes far, far beyond. In fact, the Hyde amendment, which is the law of the land, says that there will be no Federal funds for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or the life of the woman, period.

Let me say that again. There is no Federal funding of abortion anywhere in Federal law.

Let me say that again. The Federal law, not the Federal employees health care plan, not Medicaid, not the military, not the Affordable Health Care Act, nowhere in the law is there Federal funding for abortion, period. In the Affordable Health Care Act, in section 1303, it specifically says there will be no Federal funding for abortion.

Now, this bill, contrary to the claims of its proponents, goes far beyond current law, and here's how. It says women who purchase health care insurance in the exchanges cannot use their own money to buy private insurance plans that have a full range of reproductive coverage. Under current law, women can use their own money to buy insurance that covers that full range of reproductive health care. And, Madam Speaker, that is not changed by the Affordable Health Care Act. But under this law, what would happen would be women purchasing private insurance plans in the exchanges with their own private money would not be able to purchase a plan that had a full range of reproductive care. That would take away the rights of women to exercise their own constitutional rights to have a full range of health care.

In addition, Madam Speaker, this bill also includes such broad refusal language it could override core patient protections contained in the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, allowing hospitals to refuse lifesaving treatment to women on religious or moral grounds, thus causing their death inside the hospital despite their treatable condition.

Now listen, when I listen to this debate, it's really clear to me that the proponents of this bill, their main concern is not Federal funding of abortion. Their main concern is they want abortion to be illegal, and so here's my view. Having debated this now for 15 years in this body, here's my view. If the majority wants to pass a bill banning abortion, pass a bill banning abortion and we'll fight it out in the courts. Don't make claims that there is somehow Federal funding for abortion when in fact there is none to confuse the issues and to try to confuse the American public because I'm going to tell you something. The public will not be confused. They know what this bill does. They know they want jobs, and they know that's our agenda.

Vote ``no'' on this ill-conceived piece of legislation.

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