Hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties - Opening Statement of Rep. Cohen, Hearing on "Threats to Reproductive Rights in America"
Hearing
Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today presided over a hearing on "Threats to Reproductive Rights in America."
In his opening statement, Congressman Cohen said:
"More than 45 years ago, the United States Supreme Court recognized that women must have the right to control their own bodies, including by having the right to decide when to have children and when to terminate a pregnancy. More than 25 years ago, the Supreme Court affirmed that right after years of sustained opposition.
"Now, in the year 2019, the rights of women across this nation are under attack like never before. It started with a flurry of laws meant to scare and shame women and to regulate abortion providers out of existence
"Many states have dropped the pretense altogether that they are somehow trying to protect women. This year alone, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio have enacted laws banning abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which occurs approximately six weeks into a pregnancy -- before many women even know they are pregnant
"We cannot afford to go back. I would not presume to know what it is like for a woman to live in a world where she has to participate in a crime in order to end a pregnancy that she does not want, or cannot afford to have."
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