Congressional Leaders Blast Dangerous, Unconstitutional Bill that would Implement an Arbitrary Abortion Ban

WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswomen Diana DeGette (D-CO), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), co-chairs of the House Pro-Choice Caucus, and Barbara Lee (D-CA) today led the charge against a perennial House Republican bill, H.R. 36, now under consideration on the House Floor that would implement an arbitrary cut-off point banning women from accessing their Constitutional-right to abortion services. This ban endangers women, interferes with their private health care decisions, and marginalizes sexual assault victims while also being blatantly unconstitutional.

"This bill punishes women to score political points with extremists," DeGette said. "A woman's health should guide important medical decisions throughout her pregnancy, including whether to have an abortion. Congress shouldn't deny her the ability to make a decision based on her own conscience."

"Politicians are not medical professionals. We should not be meddling in health care decisions that should be made between a woman and her doctor and anyone else she chooses to include," said Slaughter. "The Supreme Court established in Roe v. Wade and affirmed in Planned Parenthood v. Casey that a woman has the unequivocal right to choose abortion care and every federal court that has reached a decision on a ban like this has blocked it. This bill is dangerous, and it is unconstitutional."

"H.R. 36 is a dangerous and unconstitutional bill that would inflict needless suffering on women. Important medical decisions – including whether and when to terminate a pregnancy – should be made by women and their doctors, not politicians in Washington," Lee said. "Abortions after 20 weeks are very rare and many occur because of devastating and life-threatening complications. Women in these heart-wrenching situations don't need another roadblock to receiving important medical care. Republicans need to stop catering to right-wing extremists and instead trust women to make the best decision for themselves and their families."

According to the Centers for Disease Control, almost 99 percent of abortions occur before 21 weeks. When they occur after that, it is often because something has gone terribly wrong – either the woman's health is at risk or there is a severe fetal anomaly. If access to comprehensive reproductive health care is arbitrarily cut off, women may be forced to carry pregnancies to term even when it endangers their health or the fetus has no chance of survival.

The bill's opponents also note that it marginalizes victims of sexual assault and trauma, since its limited exception only allows victims who are minors to access abortion if they provide proof that they have alerted police that they have been raped, and it imposes a requirement on adults seeking abortions after the 20^th week to first receive counseling at a facility that does not provide abortions.

DeGette, Slaughter and Lee pointed out that H.R. 36 violates the will of the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade. Since then, courts have repeatedly made clear that abortion is a legal medical service, and that no government can ban safe pre-viability abortion services.