Press Releases

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) opposed legislation that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with no meaningful exemptions to protect a woman’s health. The bill (H.R. 36) passed the House by a vote of 242-184, and it now heads to the Senate for further consideration. DelBene’s floor speech, as prepared for delivery, follows:

“I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 36, a nationwide 20-week abortion ban. It is truly appalling to me that House leaders keep ignoring the needs of middle-class families, while taking up bill after bill restricting women’s access to healthcare. And during National Women’s Health Week, no less.

“The legislation we’re debating today is an unconscionable attack that ignores medical safety and puts women’s health at risk. It creates unnecessary burdens to care for sexual assault survivors, who are already facing extraordinarily difficult circumstances. It injects ideology into the doctor-patient relationship. And it puts politicians, rather than women, in charge of their medical care.

“House leaders need to stop interfering in what is a deeply personal medical decision. The American people expect better from this chamber. They deserve real solutions to the challenges they’re facing.

This bill fails women and their families, and I urge my colleagues to vote NO.”

Earlier this year, DelBene again helped introduce the Women’s Health Protection Act (H.R. 448) to ensure women across the country have access to a full range of reproductive health services, regardless of where they live.

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