HARMAN CONDEMNS STUPAK AMENDMENT ON ABORTION
Congressional Desk
November 10, 2009
Lawmaker calls it "an outright assault on my constitutional rights"
Washington, DC – Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), a member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, issued the following statement decrying an anti-choice amendment to HR 3269 – the Affordable Health Care for America Act – offered by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI).
Harman´s statement follows below:
"It is going to be very difficult for me to vote for a health care bill that contains the Stupak amendment on abortion.
Far from codifying the Hyde language, which has been included in House appropriations bills since 1976, the Stupak amendment would essentially make it impossible for most women to use their own funds to purchase insurance to pay for abortions. This is not chipping away at a woman´s right to choose, this is an outright assault on my constitutional rights – and it is wrong.
I respect the right of any woman or man to oppose abortion. But, in return, I expect those who are anti-choice to respect my views. My views are that abortion should be safe and rare – but that a woman´s constitutional right to privacy as articulated in Roe v. Wade is inviolable.
I am old enough to remember the days of back alley abortions. Some women I know had them. I cannot bear the idea that the 111th Congress would restore that horror.
The Stupak amendment is insulting and destructive. Its passage would pair us with the government of Afghanistan in sending women´s rights back to the Stone Age. I intend to vote for this bill, but if it contains the Stupak amendment when it emerges from Conference Committee, my conscience demands that I reconsider my support."
Washington, DC – Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), a member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, issued the following statement decrying an anti-choice amendment to HR 3269 – the Affordable Health Care for America Act – offered by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI).
Harman´s statement follows below:
"It is going to be very difficult for me to vote for a health care bill that contains the Stupak amendment on abortion.
Far from codifying the Hyde language, which has been included in House appropriations bills since 1976, the Stupak amendment would essentially make it impossible for most women to use their own funds to purchase insurance to pay for abortions. This is not chipping away at a woman´s right to choose, this is an outright assault on my constitutional rights – and it is wrong.
I respect the right of any woman or man to oppose abortion. But, in return, I expect those who are anti-choice to respect my views. My views are that abortion should be safe and rare – but that a woman´s constitutional right to privacy as articulated in Roe v. Wade is inviolable.
I am old enough to remember the days of back alley abortions. Some women I know had them. I cannot bear the idea that the 111th Congress would restore that horror.
The Stupak amendment is insulting and destructive. Its passage would pair us with the government of Afghanistan in sending women´s rights back to the Stone Age. I intend to vote for this bill, but if it contains the Stupak amendment when it emerges from Conference Committee, my conscience demands that I reconsider my support."
Print
Email
