Date: 2016-02-25
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from New Jersey. and I thank her for her leadership. As well. I thank my colleagues who are here on the floor of the House who have joined us. Mr. Speaker. let me associate myself with the comments by the gentlewoman from New Jersey as they relate to Louisiana. Let me be clear. As I stand here as a constituent of the State of Texas. as a Representative of the State of Texas. and as a woman who lives in Texas. that Texas State Law HB2 has led to the closure of more than 20 abortion facilities in the State. taking the total number of providers down from 40 to 19. its true purpose being to take away womens rights to make their own healthcare decisions. It could not be more blatant. again. to take away every womans right to choose. No one stands on this floor tonight to promote and coddle abortion. but we do stand on the floor to protect a womans right to choose her health and to protect her sacred right of making such decisions with her God. her family. and her physician. How do HB2 and other bills have the right to interfere with that? Let me also cite for you that a U.N. working group concluded that women in the United States inexplicably lag behind international human rights. Pointing to data and research on public and political representation. economic and social rights. and health and safety protections. experts in the U.N. working group boldly acknowledged that there is a myth that women in the United States already enjoy all of the expected standards of rights and protections afforded under America. Isnt that shameful? Under America. we are still denied our rights. The reality is women in the United States are experiencing continued discrimination and daunting disparities that prevent the true ability for them to fully participate as equal members of society. We stand here this evening to acknowledge one striking issue that will be argued at the Supreme Court next week. and that is this caseHB2that has shut down clinics and has denied to women that any other access be open to them with this particular legislation. So we are advocating. as it goes to the Supreme Court. that this is an issue of human rights equals womens rights. In America. we face a real problem of hypocrisy. Isnt it interesting that we say that we believe in the rights of families and in the sacredness of ones religion and in ones choice between ones family. doctor. and God. yet. Danielle Deaver was denied an abortion even as the uterus crushed the fetus. This family wanted children. This family wanted to be able to have this child. Unfortunately. due to medical reasons. this young lady needed to have this baby taken. She was 22 weeks pregnant. The real crime is that this was not allowed to take place in a legal manner because just 1 month earlier Nebraska had enacted the Nations first fetal pain legislation that banned abortions after 20 weeks. It is not one that she wanted. It is not one that she desired. It was because of health care and need and the fact that a tragedy had happened to her and her family. yet. she was denied. Womens rights equal human rights. With respect to the Texas case. the Supreme Court is scheduled next Tuesday to hear the case of Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt. which will challenge the Texas law that has stripped thousands of women of access to their constitutional right. Whole Womans Health is the most consequential reproductive case in the last two decades that challenges the longstanding precedent of upholding a womans constitutional right to access to safe and legal abortion services. It is not a supporting of abortion. but a supporting of the right to choose. It is protective of womens health. of the life of the mother. and of the fact that you engage with your family. with your God. and with your physician. Ever since the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. which was affirmed again in 1992 in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. the U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that women have a constitutional right to safe. legal abortion care and that States do not have a right to unduly interfere. The Casey decision explained these matters involving the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime. choices that are central to personal dignity and autonomy and that are central to the liberty protected by the 14th Amendment. The socalled experts who testified in favor of HB2 have been discredited by multiple Federal courts and have been exposed for submitting testimony written by an antiabortion activist with no medical training. Texas HB2 has led to the closure of more than 20 abortion facilities in the State. taking the total number of providers down from 40 to 19. Mr. Speaker. as I close. let me give an additional personal anecdote that has taken place in the State of Texas. That is. of course. the masquerading of going into the Planned Parenthood offices that have provided these clinics and that have provided health care to college students and to those in rural communities where there are no doctors. OB/GYNs. or facilities to handle the medical needs of these women. Remember what I said. Womens rights are human rights. and human rights are womens rights. so said by thenFirst Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. It is true today. As I have shown in documents. the United Nations working group has challenged whether or not we are providing women the same rights in America as men. That is a daunting question and an unfortunate answer because the U.N. working group has said no. In the backdrop of this great discussion and of the Texas HB2. we had the circumstances of people falsifying who they were. stealing the ID of this persons high school classmates and imitating that he was looking for fetuses for research. Interestingly enough. all of them were calling for the indictment of the Planned Parenthood personnel. Yet. an unbiased grand jury in Texas did not indict those innocent persons who were having a discussion about what was legal. but they indicted those who falsified their documents and tried to mislead people. Again. this case will be argued in the backdrop of so many who are trying to undermine womens rights. I will continue to work with my colleagues to find ways to address the illogical. unfair. and unjust disparity by reviewing and responding to unwarranted restrictions that result in the disparate access to these constitutionally protected rights. One day I hope that we will learn and have as our constitutional premise that the Constitution works and that womens rights are human rights. Mr. Speaker. I thank the Gentlelady for yielding. and I commend the Progressive Caucus for standing firm in defense of our hardfought womens rights. which in truth. are constitutionally protected American rights. We face a real problem in America with hypocrisy. As a country founded on principles of liberty. justice and equality. and a global leader in formulating international human rights standards. the United States fails to meet these basic standards for women who are denied equal access to legal rights and protections. The United Nations Working Group on Discrimination against Women in Law and Practice (U.N. Working Group) recently issued a sobering statement and assessment detailing a picture of womens missing rights in America. Upon visiting several states throughout the country. including my home state of Texas. the U.N. Working Group concluded that women in the United States inexplicably lag behind international human rights standards. Pointing to data and research on public and political representation. economic and social rights. and health and safety protections. experts in the U.N. Working Group boldly acknowledged that there is a myth that women in the United States already enjoy all of the expected standards of rights and protections afforded under America. The reality is women in the United States are experiencing continued discrimination and daunting disparities that prevent the true ability for them to fully participate as equal members of society. One of the most alarming deficiencies for women in America is the inability to access basic health care and the imposition of devastating barriers to reproductive health and rights. Too many women are suffering dire and deadly consequences. Between 1990 and 2013. the maternal mortality rate for women in the U.S. has increased by 136%. Black women are nearly 4 times more likely to die in childbirth. and states with high poverty rates have a 77% higher maternal mortality rate. Our global experts and allies acknowledge that even though womens reproductive rights in America are constitutionally protected. access to reproductive health services are severely abridged by states imposition of sweeping barriers and restrictions. For instance. in many states. women must undergo unjustified and invasive medical procedures. endure groundless waiting periods. be subjected to harassment. violence or other threatening conditions that remain constant throughout all reproductive health care clinics. and forced to forgo treatment or engage in lengthy and costly travel due to closure of clinics faced with burdensome licensing conditions. These restrictions disproportionately discriminate against poor women. The United States can and should do better! It is unacceptable that women in America are facing a health care crisis so dire that the global community is denouncing it as a human rights violation. Sadly. the direction States are taking will only further dismantle womens access to affordable and trustworthy reproductive healthcare. While clinics are shutting down at drastic rates throughout the country. devastating restrictions and barriers imposed throughout Texas strike at the core of this abomination. A Texas statute known as HB2 (House Bill 2). was enacted several years ago under false claims to promote womens health. when in fact it only set in motion dangerous restrictions on womens access to reproductive health care. In addition to constant attacks on funding for reproductive health care clinics. abortion providers in Texas were forced to undergo impossible million dollar renovations and upgrades. Denying hundreds of thousands of women health care services in Texas. nearly half of all reproductive health care clinics were forced to shut down. and now only 10 remain in the second largest state in the country. Taking an important step toward restoring the constitutional rights of millions of women. the Supreme Court recently granted certiorari of Whole Womans Health v. Cole to decide the fate of these remaining clinics and the lives of women in Texas. and throughout the nation. I am proud to say that I. and a number of my colleagues. signed on to a number of amicus briefs submitted to the Supreme Court. detailing the hardship and injustice Whole Womans Health v. Cole presents. While we await the decision of the Supreme Court. in Whole Womans Health v. Cole. we can only hope that the court will help turn the tide of attacks and diminution on womens rights. No woman in America should be denied the dignity of being ability to make choices about her body and healthcare. Access to safe. legal and unhindered healthcare must be realized by all women. These simple facts can no longer be denied. and hypocrisy can no longer be tolerated. A womans right to choose to have an abortion is a constitutionally protected fundamental right. More than 40 years ago in the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade. 410 U.S. 113. (1973). the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 72 that the right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment extends to a womans decision to have an abortion. More recently. in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. 505 U.S. 833 (1992). the Supreme Court upheld Roe v. Wade and further explained that states could not enact medically unnecessary regulations meant to create substantial obstacles for women seeking abortion services. Yet. fairness and access to exercise constitutionally protected fundamental rights is trampled on and denied to millions of women. We cannot ignore the hypocrisy of imbalanced protection and access to fundamentally protected rights for women in America when it is easier to purchase and lawfully possess a firearmeven for a person on the terrorist watch listthan it is for a woman to exercise her constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. Mr. Speaker. this is neither fair nor right and it should not be rewarded. As our nation continues to push back against horrific acts of violence at the hands of dangerous and irresponsible gun owners and gun dealers. and our nations number one provider of womens healthcare continues to experience violent and devastating attacks on its services and facilities. it is time we find common ground as we look to resolve these polarizing issues that have all too often collided. A womans right to choose to have an abortion and an individuals right to possess a firearm are both constitutionally protected fundamental rights. I will be working with my colleagues to find ways to address this illogical. unfair and unjust disparity by reviewing and responding to unwarranted restrictions that result in disparate access to these constitutionally protected rights. Namely. if a woman is required to wait several days. undergo a physical examination. receive counseling and education about alternative options before making the decision to terminate a pregnancy. an individual purchasing a deadly weapon should be required to jump through the same restrictive hoops and apparent safety measures. I hope one day we can come to an agreement in America that it should not be harder for a woman to exercise her fundamental right to choose than it is for a person on the terrorist watch list to lawfully purchase and possess firearms. At a minimum. I urge my colleagues to take a hard look at our constitutional protections and founding principles to resolve the growing crisis and unacceptable conditions of inferiority in America.