Date: 2015-05-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentleman. I will come to a close. But I am welled with emotion. not for killing. but for saving. not for condemnation. but for appreciation. not for judging. but for letting people know that I have constituents who are huddled in places right now in Houston. Texas. in fear. huddled because laws have prevented them from good counseling. counseling before such tragedy would happen. laws that have prevented them from having facilities in their area. They fall victim to shysters because of laws that we pass here. I cannot see that anymore. and H.R. 36 now makes it a Federal offense and offends doctors and people of faith. So I close by simply saying that I love that song "Glory." It says: "One day when the glory comes. it will be ours. It will be ours." But glory has to be tolerance and acceptance of peoples condition. Prayerfully we must do the right thing in this Congress and vote against H.R. 36. Madam Speaker. I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 36. the "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act." I opposed this irresponsible and reckless legislation the last time it was brought to the floor under a suspension of the rules and fell well short of the two thirds majority needed to pass. I oppose this bill because it is unnecessary. puts the lives of women at risk. interferes with womens constitutionally guaranteed right of privacy. and diverts our attention from the real problems facing American people. A more accurate short title for this bill would be the "Violating the Rights of Women Act of 2015." Instead of resuming their annual War on Women. our colleagues across the aisle should be working with Democrats to build upon the "MiddleClass Economics" championed by the Obama Administration that have succeeded in ending the economic meltdown it inherited in 2009 and revived the economy to the point where today we have the highest rate of growth and lowest rate of unemployment since the boom years of the Clinton Administration. Madam Speaker. we could and should instead be voting to raise the minimum wage to at least $10.10 per hour so that people who work hard and play by the rules do not have to raise their families in poverty. Instead of voting to abridge the constitutional rights of women for the umpteenth time. we should bring to the floor for a first vote comprehensive immigration reform legislation or legislations repairing the harm to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by the Supreme Courts decision in Shelby County v. Holder. The one thing we should not be doing is debating irresponsible "messaging bills" that abridge the rights of women and have absolutely no chance of overriding a presidential veto. Madam Speaker. H.R. 36 seeks to take the misguided and meanspirited policy that in 2013 was directed at the District of Columbia and make it the law of the land. In so doing. the bill poses a nationwide threat to the health and wellbeing of American women and a direct challenge to the Supreme Courts ruling in Roe v. Wade. Madam Speaker. one of the most detestable aspects of this bill is that it would curb access to care for women in the most desperate of circumstances. It is these women who receive the 1.5 percent of abortions that occur after 20 weeks. Women like Vikki Stella. a diabetic. who discovered months into her pregnancy that he fetus she was carrying suffered from several major anomalies and had no chance of survival. Because of Vikkis diabetic. her doctor determined that induced labor and Caesarian section were both riskier procedures for Vikki than an abortion. Because Vikki was able to terminate the pregnancy. she was protected from the immediate and serious medical risks to her health and her ability to have children in the future was preserved. Madam Speaker. every pregnancy is different. No politician knows. or has the right to assume what is best for a woman and her family. These are decisions that properly must be left to women to make. in consultation with their partners. doctors. their God. Madam Speaker. I also strongly oppose H.R. 36 because it lacks the necessary exceptions to protect the health and life of the mother. In Roe v. Wade. the Court held that a state could prohibit a woman from exercising her right to terminate a pregnancy in order to protect her health prior to viability. While many factors go into determining fetal viability. the consensus of the medical community is that viability is acknowledged as not occurring prior to 24 weeks gestation. By prohibiting nearly all abortions beginning at "the probable postfertilization age" of 20 weeks. H.R. 36 violates this clear and long standing constitutional rule. Madam Speaker. the constitutionally protected right to privacy encompasses the right of women to choose to terminate a pregnancy before viability. and even later where continuing to term poses a threat to her health and safety. This right of privacy was hard won and must be preserved inviolate. I strongly oppose H.R. 36 and urge all members to join me in voting against this unwise measure that put the lives and health of women at risk.