Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) denounced Republican efforts to restrict a woman's right to reproductive health care and said job creation must be our number one priority.
In a speech yesterday on the House floor voicing her opposition to the so-called "Protect Life Act" (H.R. 358), Baldwin said, "This extremist legislation is an unprecedented display of lack of respect for American women and our safety. The effect of the bill would be to cut off millions of women from the private health care they already have and limit the ability of a woman to get the care she needs, even if the result is a serious permanent health condition that could shorten her life."
Baldwin said, "Notably absent from the Republican agenda are the issues that the American people really care about - creating jobs and growing our economy. Just when we should be pulling together to work on these issues, instead, Republicans have put forth divisive and extreme legislation that takes away women's ability to make their own important life decisions about their reproductive health."
Baldwin urged her colleagues to join her in opposing the bill saying, "It is time for the Republican majority to respect women's important life decisions and to refocus on the priorities of this country right now, jobs and growing the economy."
The bill passed 251-172.