Conyers Assails Republicans’ Fixation on Rolling Back Women’s Rights

(WASHINGTON) – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives debated H.R. 7, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” on the House Floor. Consideration of this bill by the full House of Representatives comes just weeks following a U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on the legislation, and an expedited Full Committee Markup. As debate was underway on the legislation, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) delivered the following statement:

U.S. Representative
John Conyers, Jr

“The debate today on the House Floor is the latest attack in the Majority’s ongoing campaign to chip away at a woman’s constitutionally protected right to choose. As millions of Americans struggle to find gainful employment, it is a travesty that Congress is again wasting time on a divisive ideological debate instead of working to create jobs and improve the economy,” said Conyers.

“This shameful distraction from the work that the American people elected us to do is only made worse by the fact that the ‘No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act’ is based on a falsehood: there is no federal funding of abortion, due to the Hyde amendment disallowing it. In reality, this legislation places undue restrictions on how women with private health insurance policies can spend their own private money. My conservative colleagues pay a lot of lip-service to limiting the government’s role in American’s affairs, yet I can think of few actions more intrusive than limiting a woman’s access to healthcare options and private insurance.

“Thus far in 2014, the House Judiciary Committee has devoted our first legislative hearing and Markup to turning back the clock on women’s rights, and now one of the first major bills on the House Floor is nothing more than an ideological charade. Meanwhile, bipartisan areas of concern – ranging from immigration to surveillance reform – have languished. Rather than continue to dwell on bitter partisan issues, let us return our attention to the people’s business.”

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