Republicans in the House of Representatives are conducting a campaign to undermine women’s reproductive rights. The New York Times recently ran an article that stated that there is a “real and immediate danger” concerning these rights for women.
Hearings were held this week on two of the most extreme bills. Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Joe Pitts (R-PA) are the forces behind these bills. According to the Center For Reproductive Rights, “The bills target women and bans abortion coverage for low-income women, federal employees, women in the military, and residents in Washington, DC.” The Center went on to say that there is language in the bills which would permit hospitals to “refuse to provide abortion emergency care even when necessary to save a woman’s life.” So there you have it in a nutshell.
Democrats in the Senate are saying that the public would prefer that the Congress concentrate its efforts on other things, such as the economy. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, (D-N.Y.) said that she does not understand how the Republican Congress can go from a mandate to create jobs to the current undermining of women’s reproductive rights.
From Sen. Patty Murray, (D-Wash.) came the following words, “We’re not going to stand by and watch while reproductive rights are threatened and women’s health is jeopardized again in this country. We are not going back in history.”
The Center for Reproductive Rights called the bills in question “extreme” and said they “endanger millions of women.”
Once again women’s reproductive freedoms are on the line. All of the major women’s groups that advocate for the right to reproductive choice are geared up to fight this battle. No one wants to go back to the days of back alley abortions because desperate women feel they have no other option. These bills aim to undermine a woman’s right to choose, and we all know that is a slippery slope.
Sources: The Center for Reproductive Rights
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