Norton, Gray and National Pro-Choice Groups to Hold Press Conference to Oppose D.C. Abortion Ban Bill with Woman Who Had a Post-20-Week Abortion
WASHINGTON, DC – The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced that District of Columbia resident Christy Zink, who had an abortion at 21 weeks and five days after doctors found a cyst on the brain of the fetus and a follow-up MRI revealed severe fetal anomalies of the brain, will be featured at a press conference on Tuesday, February 21, at 10 a.m. in 2203 Rayburn House Office Building to oppose the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R.3803/S.2103). She will be joined by Norton, D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray, NARAL Pro-Choice America Deputy Policy Director and General Counsel Lissy Moskowitz, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America African American Leadership & Engagement Director Ludwig P. Gaines. Zink will share her story, and along with Norton, Gray and the pro-choice groups, express strong opposition to the D.C. abortion ban bill introduced by Representative Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), the top federal legislative priority for the National Right to Life Committee.
"Congress needs to hear from a woman who has had an abortion after 20 weeks under tragic circumstances before it decides to meddle with the lives and reproductive health of women, and who did not elect anyone who can vote on the measure in the House or Senate," Norton said. "Pro-choice women across the nation have taken notice and are already mobilizing to fight alongside D.C. residents and officials. They get it that District of Columbia women have been unjustly singled out as an unwilling stalking horse for a direct attack on Roe v. Wade in an attempt to create a wedge issue in an election year."
Also attending the news conference will be representatives from the Center for Reproductive Rights, the National Abortion Federation, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, the Black Women's Health Imperative, the National Partnership for Women and Families, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, and DC Vote.
Who: Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray, Christy Zink, who had a post-20-week abortion, NARAL Pro-Choice America Deputy Policy Director & General Counsel Lissy Moskowitz, Planned Parenthood Federation of America African American Leadership & Engagement Director Ludwig P. Gaines, Esq., National Abortion Federation President Vicki Saporta, and representatives from various other pro-choice groups
What: Press conference opposing the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R.3803/S.2103), introduced by Representative Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT)
When: 10 a.m. on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Where: Room 2203 in the Rayburn House Office Building
Published February 17, 2012