Norton Urges Colleagues to Fight Post-20-Week D.C. Abortion Ban Bill That Really Targets Women Nationwide
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today called on her House Democratic colleagues to stand with women in the District of Columbia and across the nation by opposing H.R. 3803, a bill that would ban abortions in the District after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Norton wrote that the bill, which is being marked up today in the House Judiciary Committee, is the latest in a series of Republican attacks on the reproductive rights of women that began with the attempt to defund Planned Parenthood, and includes the attempt to block access to contraceptives as a part of health insurance, as well as the Susan G. Komen for the Cure decision to cease funding Planned Parenthood breast cancer screenings, a decision that was later reversed. Cloaked as a bill that claims to restrict only the rights of D.C. women, Norton wrote, "The bill seeks to rally the most extreme Republican supporters to achieve a federal imprimatur, however bogus or limited, to be used in an ongoing campaign across the nation to get states to defy the law of the land under Roe v. Wade. Several conservative states have already passed similar laws, but neither Congressional Republicans nor anti-choice organizations have the nerve to proceed in the usual way with a post-20-week abortion ban bill for the nation because they know that women and their supporters would turn back such an attack on Roe v. Wade."
The full text of Norton's letter to her colleagues follows.
Dear Democratic Colleague:
As you know, American women have been outraged about reproductive health issues this year, including the decision (later reversed) by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure to pull funding for breast cancer screenings from Planned Parenthood, as well as congressional attempts to defund Planned Parenthood and block access to contraceptives as part of health insurance. Beneath the radar, there has been a far-right campaign, as announced by anti-choice forces, that will emerge in the markup of H.R. 3803 on Tuesday, July 10 regarding the abortion rights guaranteed by Roe v. Wade. Representative Trent Franks, the sponsor of H.R. 3803, and anti-choice forces have unleashed a full-fledged attack on Roe and the nation's women, using the women in the nation's capital as pawns. H.R. 3803, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill without a scientific basis, seeks to ban all abortions in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks of pregnancy with only extremely limited exceptions for the "death of the pregnant woman" or her "substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, not including psychological or emotional conditions." However, Roe v. Wade requires viability to be determined only by a physician, and not by statute.
Although the bill is nominally addressed only to women in the District of Columbia, the bill seeks to rally the most extreme Republican supporters to achieve a federal imprimatur, however bogus or limited, to be used in an ongoing campaign across the nation to get states to defy the law of the land under Roe v. Wade. Several conservative states have already passed similar laws, but neither Congressional Republicans nor anti-choice organizations have the nerve to proceed in the usual way with a post-20-week abortion ban bill for the nation because they know that women and their supporters would turn back such an attack on Roe v. Wade.
As of July 9, 2012, H.R. 3803 had 209 co-sponsors. Please continue to stand with us, but especially with American women, and not with House Republicans and anti-choice forces trying to achieve 218 co-sponsors for an unscientific, baseless anti-choice bill that targets women in D.C. as the vehicle to attack Roe v. Wade and with it the reproductive choice that Roe guarantees to all American women. The bill reinforces our responsibility to women and their right to make decisions regarding their health, individual circumstances, and the conditions of their own bodies, as required by Roe. The District should not be left to fight this attack alone, particularly when the goal of Republicans is to undermine the reproductive rights of women nationwide. There can be no doubt about the national implications of a bill with D.C.'s name on it as a cover for attacking the reproductive rights of the nation's women.
I ask you to continue to stand with the District and women across the country, and oppose this direct assault on Roe's guarantee of reproductive rights.
Sincerely,
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Published: July 10, 2012