Rep. Jerry Nadler speaking against ban on woman’s access to reproductive health “Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 36. “For more than forty years, the Supreme Court has clearly and consistently held that women have the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy prior to viability or at any time to protect the life and health of the mother. This bill is unconstitutional on both of these grounds. “The bill provides a narrow exemption to protect women’s lives, allowing physicians to terminate pregnancy after 20 weeks only if a woman’s life is at imminent risk. This exemption fails to account for the many severe health issues that may arise late in pregnancy and forces physicians to think about legal implications rather than about a patient’s health.“Perhaps most cruelly, this legislation includes only a very narrow exemption for victims of rape and incest, requiring that any woman seeking an abortion after 20 weeks prove that she either reported the rape to the authorities or sought counseling services. The unfortunate reality is, only 35 percent of sexual assaults are ever reported, and we know there are many reasons for not reporting a rape – the toll our criminal justice system takes on victims, the humiliation and intimidation faced by victims of assault, and even the additional risk to their personal safety. “So why place this limit on the rape exception? What does this narrow exemption say about my Republican colleagues’ view of women? It’s quite simple – this bill says they believe that women lie. The Republicans seem to think that women are too dishonest to believe when they say they have been raped. “This bill continues a too-long tradition of treating women like second-class citizens. Measures introduced at the state and federal level to restrict abortions imply that women lie about rape, that women are misinformed about their own pregnancies and must undergo invasive tests and exams, that women are immoral for ever making the choice to terminate a pregnancy no matter what the circumstance. That is insulting. It is none of our business. “Enough is enough. Doctors, not politicians, should be providing women guidance, support, and medical advice throughout their pregnancy, and, particularly, when making the deeply personal decision to terminate a pregnancy. Women, not politicians, should make that decision themselves. We must defeat this unconstitutional bill and continue to afford women their constitutional right – enjoyed by every man without question – to make decisions about their health care in the privacy of their doctors’ offices. “I urge my colleagues to vote no on this terrible bill and yield back the balance of my time.”