Pregnant Students' Rights Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Foxx for the time to speak in support of this legislation today.

This week, a compelling statistic has been front and center of our mind, that 30 percent of all abortions in the United States are performed on 20- to 24-year-old, college-aged women.

You wonder how much of this difficult reality is the result of a harmful external pressure that exists, a lack of resources that may exist, inadequate accommodations, or how often a young woman would have chosen life if she had just been informed of the rights, the resources, and the accommodations that were available to her.

We must create a culture in this country that does not force women to choose between their babies and a college education. This legislation directly addresses this by simply requiring colleges and universities, as has been said here today, to fully inform pregnant students of what is rightfully available to them and how to file a complaint if they have experienced discrimination on the basis of their pregnancy.

It is imperative that our institutions of higher education fully support women. We can't say it enough. Pro-life is prowoman.

When a student chooses a path of higher education, they deserve our support and encouragement. Being prowoman and being prochild and being profamily is being proeducation and it is being prosuccess.

I thank my colleague from Iowa, who I serve on the Appropriations Committee with, for introducing this important legislation. I fully support it and look forward to its passage today.

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