Norton Blasts House Republicans for Inserting Anti-D.C. Provisions into Anti-Choice Bill

Statement

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today denounced a House Republican anti-choice bill, H.R. 7, which infringes on the local authority of the District of Columbia and on women's reproductive rights. The bill would permanently prohibit the District from spending its local funds on abortion services for low-income women, and would define the D.C. government as part of the federal government for the purposes of abortion. In addition to the D.C.-only provision, the bill contains provisions Norton strongly opposes, including restricting women's access to abortion coverage in the private insurance marketplace. The same version of the bill was introduced last Congress, when Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee barred Norton the traditional courtesy of testifying at the hearing on the bill despite its impact on the District. This year the bill is moving without any hearings.

"This bill shows the Republican tin ear on women's concerns in the United States," Norton said. "Finding the use of federal power against women's health insufficient, Republicans are also using their anti-women bill to wage war on the District's local autonomy, which requires them, laughably, to officially classify the District government as part of the federal government. Once again, House Republicans are intent on violating the rights of the 650,000 District residents who deserve to be able to spend their local tax dollars without politically motivated interference. This bill hurts millions of women across the country who have a constitutional right to make choices about their own health. It compounds that discrimination by violating the cardinal principle of local control over local funds. The Senate has repeatedly rejected this bill, and I expect them to have the good sense to repeat that rejection."

The White House has threatened to veto H.R. 7 in its Statement of Administration Policy because, among other things, it "restricts the District of Columbia's use of local funds, which undermines home rule."

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