Transcripts For CSPAN3 House 20240703

Democrats on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee with the abortion rights advocates on the republican efforts to tighten abortion restrictions in certain states. Topics include fare of ramifications following the Supreme Court decision limiting Abortion Access. How restrictions can disproportionately impact black and brown communities in hesitancy on distribution of an fda approved Abortion Pill. This is about two hours. Good afternoon. Thank you, Ranking Member and good afternoon. Thank you, Ranking Member raskin and my cohost for convening this democratic members of the Oversight Committee to publicly and proudly defend access to medication abortion. And i want to think all of the members, who are here and who is on their way. We have congresswoman norton i believe, who came in and then to all of our panelists. Saying louis and i are here to show you what abortion care can look like. What abortion can look like. This is what an abortion looks like. This is it. Mifepristone , one mifepristone pill with four four pills. This is an abortion. Many of you know me as a congresswoman but i am also a nurse and it is through that lens that i approach todays conversation. I have cared for patients with chronic migraines and administered medication to alleviate their pain. I have cared for patients and an apparent administered antibiotics. I have cared patients with depression and administered antidepressants to ease their suffering. Medication is an essential form of healthcare. Medications are lifesaving in these medications, these five pills, are safe. These five pills are effective. Medication Abortion Pills like mifepristone , safe again. Effective, again, no different than any other medication that is safe and effective. The fda has declared abortion safe for the past 23 years, using mifepristone together with jamie raskin is a 97. 7 effective way to terminate a pregnancy. Used worldwide, and accounts for over 50 of abortions in this country. Medication abortion as a lifeline. It is a lifeline for the person working multiple jobs who cant afford to take a day off work because wages are too low or they dont have paid sick leave. Its a lifeline for the mom of two who can afford childcare or cant find that affordable childcare. It is a lifeline for the person who lives hundreds of miles away from the nearest clinic and does not have reliable transportation. Its a lifeline for the trans folks who face trans phobia and bigotry because of antilgbt laws and bans on gender affirming care. These are not hypothetical. These are real stories from real people like those you will hear today. So, for folks like those that i have mentioned, they can take these five pills in the privacy of their own home where they are not confronted by a picket line. They are not confront confronted by a hostile crowd of protesters harassing them and spewing hate. Banning medication abortion would be like placing a man on tylenol, a ban on antibiotics. There is no scientific, there is no valid medical reason to do so. It is only political propaganda. During the covid19 pandemic, restrictions on mifepristone were lifted and we saw how safe it can be when you let people get abortion bills via mail with a telehealth provider. As hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people have done not. It is so safe and it is so effective, politicians are attacking this drug. In states with abortion bands, people are forced to find Abortion Pills online where they are cheap and widely available but it should not have to be that way. You should be able to get it as easily as any other safe, commonly used medication, you should be able to get it in the mail, your pharmacy, and a doctors office. Despite what the Antiabortion Movement says, abortion is not uncommon. It is not complicated, it is not dangerous. What is actually dangerous, what is really dangerous, as forcing people, especially black women, to give birth and our country, despite accounting for only 15 of, black women are over three times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes and white women. Missouri, you are over 25 times more likely to die from giving birth and taking Abortion Pills. Restrictions in states like mine, medication abortion quite literally saves lives. Forced birth can be deadly. And every person should be able to decide for themselves whether to carry a pregnancy to term or to seek abortion care. That is why im proud to have her introduce with senator tina smith are protecting access to medication abortion act, which would protect patients access to Abortion Pills. These were necessary before and they are even more essential now. Dobbs was not the angle for those who want to take away our rights. We know the recent decision to ban mifepristone is only the beginning. We need to reform the Supreme Court because the Current Court is a limitless institution to our democracy. These ultracorrupt, out of touch justices are making decisions based on the bidding of their donors not based on the rule of law. And that is what we saw with dobbs, it is our most marginalized communities who pay the biggest price. We will not let unelected judges and antiabortion lawmakers strip away our rights and we stayed quiet and we fight for hundreds of thousands of people, including many of my own constituents. Mifepristone is essential. It is lifesaving healthcare. These five pills, lifesaving healthcare. Now, i will yield to my colleague from texas, representative jasmine crockett. Thank you so much, madame congresswoman and thank you so much to each of you that is here today, especially our witnesses. I have my prepared remarks. Im terrible about following them, so bear with me. When i want to be clear, the democrats while understanding the makeup of the square as it has been outlined by the congresswoman, we want the American People to know that we hear you, we know what the numbers show, and we will continue to fight. And we are not going to fight with conspiracies. We are not going to stoke fears with lives, we are going to fight with facts. And that is exactly why we now had to convene our own hearing because the people that are quote unquote in control, they seemingly are allergic to fax. The facts are that we already knew what the outcomes would look like if roe v wade was overturned because there are those who remember a time before roe v wade and they know exactly what happened and it is sad we live in a country that is supposed to be an example for the entire world. But when it comes to women in this country, for some reason, there are those who decided we will be nothing more than secondrate citizens. Im telling you, as a black women in this country, i refuse to be a secondrate citizen. So, we know that our reproductive rights are being attacked at every level by the radical right. And as someone from the state of texas, yall know i know a little too well. This is not the first time we have seen these attacks but make no mistake, we are facing unprecedented and systemic efforts to roll it back to a time where men controlled every aspect of a womans bodily decisions. These actions are not without legal consequences, following the decision last year, roughly 1 3 of women are living in the 14 states that have abortion bands. This is on top of abortion being severely restricted in an additional nine states. As a result, 14 of the population is more than 200 miles from the nearest Abortion Facility with the average being 86 miles from a provider. Im going to stop there because i know these amazing people here will tell you all about it. One of the things we have seen, was serving in the texas house when they decided they want to introduce the vigilante bill. This is the bill that said that if you see a woman going near the clinic, you can sue the uber driver, you can see the nurse, and he would get 10,000 just because you sought and it was in your business in the first place. We try to talk about things that Ranking Member raskin and i know about, things such as standing. The republicans didnt care about the rule of law or the principles and that is exactly how we ended up with the texas case, the case that kicked all of this off, but i want you to, and im shortening my remarks a lot so my team is probably going to be mad but i want to hit on high note and i want to make sure we get to our amazing Ranking Member and other esteemed members. Right now, and texas, it is really disgraceful, they know texas is a state that wants to lead the charge in reversing the rights of women as we knew them because texas was passing, well, we still had roe v wade. Ultimately, there, where did they go . They went straight to texas and filed their first attempt at a national man even though they wanted to return power to the states, as soon as they got that decision, they decided we want to go one step further. Let me tell you about the rich and good history of texas. Roe v wade is a texas case. Henry wade was the District Attorney in my district and Congressional District 30 and he was sued and he was actually sued by a young lawyer by the name of sarah weddington. Sarah weddington was so moved that she decided to run for the texas state house. And as a freshman in february of that year after she had just sworn in in january, she got a call to see, the texas house, we have actual desks and found that her desk. She got a call on the house floor and it was about the roe v wade decision. Sarah weddington was like 26 years old. I cant imagine, i got out of law school at 25, i can imagine, how are you in a case that would be so monumental, not just for texas women, but for women as a whole, not only in the country but in the world, she did that. That is the kind of courage we have that comes out of texas women. As a texas woman, i am not giving up. We will fight this to the end, that it started with, one that promoted womens rights and womens access to the Reproductive Health to serve, so with that, i will yield. Thank you for those removing moving remarks. A leadership on this, i want to thank her and st. Louis for great leadership on this. I want to thank you for sending this, she is who we need in congress, she is not just the legislature, but an organizer. She is also a nurse, by the way. I have had a recent touch of lymphoma and the first person to call me was corey busch. Remember, shes a nurse and she is here for anything i would need. And that meant so much to me, so thank you for that. Its been more than a year now that our Supreme Court, the most corrupt Supreme Court we have had in america in more than a century toppled more than halfcentury of precedent and in that time, it has become clear that the right wing war on abortion rights as a war on healthcare itself. And you can say that in a couple different ways. You can see it by who these bands are affecting and you can also see it by virtue of the fact that our colleagues who used to be so vociferous in denouncing abortion helpful and strangely silent and the cat has got their tongue. Let me tell you about a few of the cases that are going on in the real world and womens healthcare. One woman in the midwest had a lifethreatening up topic pregnancy, which is a condition where the fetus develops outside the uterus and will never become viable. Is not a viable pregnancy but it is very dangerous. She could not get anyone in her home state, which is a gilead state, where the right wing theocrats have taken everything over and shut down access to womens healthcare, so she had to flee to the university of michigan to go to the emergency room, 700 miles away in order to get treatment for her ectopic pregnancy. Her situation is representative of that, of hundreds of cases of women like that who have ectopic pregnancies but cannot get treatment in their home state because of the sweeping bans on abortion that have been passed. A woman in wisconsin was forced to bleed home for more than 10 days following an incomplete miscarriage because hospital staff in her state were terrified that removing the remaining fetal tissue would violate the state abortion ban and expose them to criminal risk arrest and prosecution. In kansas city, one hospital imposed a new obligation for explicit pharmacist approval, for the first time, before they would dispense medications used to stop postpartum hemorrhaging because the same drug could also be used for abortions. Now, the antiabortion laws and regulations are having a spillover effect on women who are not even going in for abortion but who are going in for other kinds of care but are now being affected. The roundtable is timely because of the ongoing mitigation around mifepristone , the drug most commonly used now. More than 5 million women safely used it in two decades since the fda approved it. It is a spec it is effective. And beyond abortion, it is used to cause treatments like cushing syndrome. Again, we are seeing a spillover effect from womens healthcare generally by the attempt to destroy womens access to abortion. But the other thing i wanted to point out is that i was elected in 2016, the same night that donald trump was elected. I have been here since 2017 and for my first several years here before the Dobbs Decision, i could scarcely go by a hearing in the Judiciary Committee or the Oversight Committee without hearing my republican colleagues denouncing abortion, denouncing roe versus wade. Calling abortion done aside, lacking in it to the holocaust. Calling for the criminalization of abortion but after the Dobbs Decision when vote started to be taken in a lot of states, like in kansas, like in wisconsin, where huge pro choice majorities have formed around the country to tell the right wing theocratic forces that a country is based on personal freedom and being able to make your own decisions and not having theocrat politicians basile around, they have suddenly all fallen silent. So, they know that they have struck the rock in the rock as the women of america who are not going to stand for secondclass citizenship and secondclass treatment and you got a lot of allies in my gender too. So, am happy to be here today to hear from the is exceptional witnesses who have traveled all the way from across the country to be with us and i just want to thank them for the efforts they have made to be here today. I turn it back to you, miss bush, to kick it off. And we see why you are our Ranking Member. All right. So, next, first, i want to acknowledge your members who often. We will be turning to you shortly. Now come out like to turn to our panelists for opening remarks. We will start with dr. Reverend love hope and manager at pro choice missouri. Good afternoon, everyone. I use she her pronouns. Im a mother of five children. I have a doctorate degree in divinity. Im from st. Louis, born and raised. I work with abortion action missouri workers, jewelers and midwives in the community for the fight for reproductive freedom. I want to thank you, congresswoman, cori bush, jasmine crockett, and Ranking Member jamie raskin to be here today. This opportunity is bigger than me. It is about my community. Just over a year ago, when the Dobbs Decision overturned roe v wade, missouri is one of the first states in the country to make providing abortion care a felony and criminal offense. The only abortions allowed in the state now are in medical emergencies. It is still not very clear on the definition of what that medical emergency is in the risk to providers is very significant, as you heard. The story i am sharing today falls right in this gray area. January 20th, 2023, i was rushed off to the er for severe blood loss. I nodded in and out of consciousness in the lobby for several minutes as blood began dripping down my legs. I sat in that wheelchair and instead of thinking about survival, i thought about not going to jail. I told myself to make sure you tell the staff that you are having a miscarriage but i knew i was having an abortion. I also knew that further medication pill needed to be taken orally because it showed up like a miscarriage in front of the doctors versus being inserted into the body. Earlier that month, i realize my cycle was late, i was thirsted into panic mode. I calmed myself because i am an advocate so i felt like i had all the resources, all the answers that my reach. I got in touch with my ob. I made an appointment in my ultrasound revealed i was eight weeks and not four weeks along like i had assumed. The next day, i called to make an appointment and it was four weeks out. I knew waiting that long would make this a surgical procedure that required more resources that i just did not have as a working single mother. So, i could not get that discreet, safe, private Cost Effective process i wanted if i had to go through the surgical procedure, that i spent there the process and found options to have the pills made. I ordered them quickly and i saw that it took about 2 to 4 weeks to arrive but i was so desperate, so backed into a corner, i went ahead and placed the order. First, was stolen the mail and then i placed a second set. It took about 18 days to arrive but by that time, 13 weeks and six days pick if you know anything about medication abortion, it is the safest and effective before 13 weeks. So, that was cutting a very close. I took my dose in less than 30 minutes, 45 minutes, i was cramping, bleeding, tissues started to pass, blood clots was happening. I thought it was over and yet, the worst was yet to come. I continued to soak through my close. I became lightheaded. I went to my car because i could not traumatize my children from the side of me constantly spilling blood. After an hour of not returning, they called my mom and she found me in my car unresponsive and completely covered in blood. They rushed me off to receive a d c at a catholic hospital. I could not choose where i could go because i was not responsive. They acted quickly but it made me extremely uncomfortable when they tried to federalize the tissue and take me through this process that i wish wasnt even happening. Today, i share my story because all bands on abortion are very extreme. They are racist. And right now, there are several missourians who need abortions who are forced to flee because they cannot get that safe industry discreet care. Right now, there missourians who need abortions who are being forced to carry pregnancies to term against their will, against their health, their mental health, their life circumstances, their income. And with our state seeing highest rates of parent vitality especially in black and brown communities, this makes it a crisis. See, not only do missourians face high numbers of violence, but this current legal battle over fdas approval for mifepristone only furthers the devastation missourians already face. They have some of the most severe barriers, including texans, in this entire country. My community suffers because of these attacks. And all surrounding communities will suffer because forcing people to carry unwanted pregnancies drives people into further positions of poverty and poverty gives birth to violence. And survival amounts that make people unpredictable and they do things that they would normally not do. Like me. Hardworking mother of five, doing everything i can to make sure we can contribute to this country. I almost lost my life that day. I wouldve left my children, my black children, alone in this cruel, cold world, to navigate it alone. Nobody to protect them, nobody to support them. See, the Dobbs Decision is a death sentence for thousands of black women and birthing people in missouri. So i just come i want you to take a second and consider what will happen if this ban is national. , and a people will die and suffer at the hands of the consequences of not having access to safe medical abortions. And consider if this becomes furthermore out of reach due to political attacks, how each and every one of us will feel. Thank you so much again for this time. We thank you for sharing, dr. Love. And this is why it was important to hold this roundtable. We will definitely be coming back with questions for you. Now, we will turn to dr. Jamila perrett, who is the chief executive officer at physicians for Reproductive Health, who is also practicing. Thank you so much. Hello to you all. Im jamie raskin, congresswoman crockett, and distinguish members of the Oversight Committee, it is my honor to be here. Thank you for inviting me but more than anything, thank you for sharing your story. I also dont stick to my talking points, congresswoman crockett. I was taking care of patients last week on thursday and i hear patient stories all the time. And i think it is so critical that you all hear what people are living through, so it is really an honor to be here with you. My name is dr. Jamila perrett. I use she her pronouns. Im an ob gyn, im an Abortion Provider here in the district of columbia. Im also president and ceo for physicians of Reproductive Health, a network around the country working to mobilize providers to advance access to comprehensive Reproductive Health care to the communities we serve. Im not here today for me. Not even as the head as Reproductive Health and organization but i am here for the people i care for in my community. I provide essential Ground Health care in the community that raised me, the community that made me. And abortion is essential healthcare. Whether people are accessing this care in the first weeks of pregnancy or later in pregnancy, it is my privilege to care for them. I dont believe i can accurately communicate what this year has been like for people providing and those seeking abortion care in this country. We just passed the oneyear mark, the anniversary of the Dobbs Decision which overturned 50 years of legal precedent and removed constitutional protections around abortion care, upending the entire abortion landscape. My colleagues and i have been forced to watch and grapple with devastating consequences sense this decision. We know from recent data that already thousands of people have been forced to remain pregnant and many have experienced harm as a result. We along now people denied abortion care are more likely to experience serious medical conditions particularly towards the end of their pregnancy like highbrow pressure. Or remain in relationships where intrapersonal violence is present. More likely to experience or remain in poverty. Research also shows that with higher number of abortion restrictions are the same states with poor maternal and infant health outcomes. These risks are only becoming more dire as states ban abortion care and force people to try them further and further away from their homes and communities for care. And access to incredibly safe medications used in abortion, like mifepristone are under threat. I have the privilege of practicing in washington, d. C. And Abortion Access is currently protected although the lack of state could means there is no guarantee that it will remain that way. But i am also caring for patients who are traveling from all around this country. I am saying and continue to see how dramatically the care im able to provide, the care i am able to receive can vary based on the laws of the state in which they reside. When i dont have to deal with medically unnecessary bands or restrictions on Abortion Access, can focus on doing what i am trained to do. Providing care. Safe, compassionate, evidence based care for the people in front of me. It is heartbreaking that in large parts of this country, people will not be able to access the same care as those living in other states, cities, communities, not because the providers dont have their skills or knowledge to provide that care but i prohibited by abortion bands that are solely based on politics. While it is a relief that the lower courts decision in the mifepristone case is currently on hold, should the court ultimately determined to undermine the fda approval process of mifepristone , will have dire consequences. It wont matter if you live in a socalled blue state where the laws of your state are protective, of Abortion Access. At physicians for Reproductive Health, we are incredibly fearful of what undermining access to mifepristone will mean for people across this country. What many do not realize is using mifepristone with or without misoprostol is a safe and effective way to end of pregnancy, mifepristone is also used as a multistep process for abortion and miscarriage care later in pregnancy. Access allows for people needing care to go back to their families, back to their lives sooner. It means they dont have to take another day off, pay for accommodations if they are traveling, find another day of childcare. The social and economical burdens is is by lessening the amount of time, people need to be away from their homes and families, can be the difference of getting care or having a baby and dying in childbirth. While the protocol is very safe and effective, it is an important option available for patients, theres not an alternative that can be substituted in abortion care later in pregnancy. If you take nothing else from our time together, i want you to know that abortion care is extremely safe and none of the arbitrary barriers imposed by politicians or courts make it any safer. In fact, in 2010, National Academy of sciences are affirming the safety of abortion more broadly and pointed out that the biggest threat to Patient Safety is the litany of medically unnecessary regulations that raise cost and delay procedures, ultimately putting Peoples Health at risk. They confirmed what we have not long known. Abortion is safe and bands make it less so. Along with 75 other Major Medical societies identify abortion as an essential service that requires timely access to care. These societies explicitly recommend the repeal of legislation that imposes and interferes with the patient clinician relationship including abortion bands and other restrictions. The reality is as an Abortion Provider, i know people are capable of making complex, thoughtful decisions about their health, about their lives. They know best. Patients deserve to continue to end pregnancies for many reasons and it should not be up to me are the government to decide which of these restrictions are valid. Despite the Supreme Court decision the unjust patchwork imposed by states, i am unwavering in my commitment to support people in my community. At does not have to be this way. People should get the care in their own communities in a matter that is best for them, with people that they trust. I urge you to listen to stories being told today by people provide and make access to abortion i reality. I hope these stories understand that abortion care is essential and to see how profoundly these restrictions on access harm all of us on the people we love. Thank you for having me today. I look forward to being in conversation. Thank you, dr. Jamila perritt. Now, we will turn to our senior staff attorney at the center for reproductive rights. Good afternoon. Congresswoman cori bush, congresswoman jasmine crockett, Ranking Member jamie raskin. Is that okay . Is that better . Just pulled all the way up. I am usually at a podium. Thank you for having me here today. Im a senior staff attorney at the center for reproductive rights. With my colleagues, it is my honor to represent some of the Abortion Providers in this country of patient seeking aborting in the u. S. Sense roe v wade was overturned, the threats to Abortion Access, having achieved their decade long pursuit, antiabortion extremists are pushing to destroy access in the states it remains. Regardless of the protections and oversight in that state. Today, ill discuss the following of the Dobbs Decision and the knob all legal perversions are using to end abortion nationwide, including targeting the Abortion Pill through the case of hippocratic medicine versus fda, which is now reckoning towards the u. S. A year ago, the Supreme Court overruled roe v wade and unleashing an unpredictable Health Crisis that is used to cause ongoing harm. The court did this by without accessing abortion, pregnant people lose their dignity and autonomy and cannot protect their health and lives. To be clear, antiabortion politicians and states that a band abortion do not care about pregnant people. They do not care about parenting. The same states have the worst Maternal Mortality in the nation. They have vast healthcare deserts. In short, there is nothing pro life about their efforts. But one thing that makes this moment unique is how other states and other politicians are reacting. We have seen states make historic strides in protecting access to healthcare and improving the lives of their residence. The impact of the devastation has been devastating. Total abortion bands have taken effect in 14 states as of today and many more have been and restrictions that are insurmountable for many. These bans and restrictions disproportionally basic barriers to healthcare due to Structural Racism and in equities, including black women and other people of color, real people, youth, immigrants, and People Living in these communities. These communities with the brand of efforts to curtail reproductive freedom. As we have seen, thousands of people have been forced to carry their pregnancies to term against their will, including those facing threats to their health and life. And marge, the center filed a new lawsuit versus the state of texas denied medically indicated abortion sense roe was overturned. And we know there are many, many more. The experience of the plan is emblematic of what is happening across states. In oklahoma, the center partnering with oklahoma reproductive justice and physicians for human rights and policies for emergencies. Not a single hospital in the state of oklahoma could articulate how they would protect patient lives in emergencies. Abortion bands with their draconian jail sentences are never saved but they are limited and vague exceptions is the experience of patients around the country show. But every reason to seek an abortion is valid. These antiabortion legislators glee in eliminating abortion, no matter the cost, as particularly unhinged because is not the will of their constituents. The vast majority of americans think abortion should be accessible in the fight to restore Abortion Access is motivating americans like never before. Is more states work to ban abortion, medication abortion has become increasingly essential for the providers ability to meet the needs of their patients including thousands traveling from band states and because the extremists know this because their goal is to ban it in every state, not to reinstate state rights. They are coming for medication abortion. A group of well lets has filed a basis lawsuit, the medication mifepristone. They rely on their own biased conjecture, as you have heard, contrary to 20 years of Quality Research that shows it is remarkably effective , as safe as advil, and over 5 million americans have used this medication. They were successful before the trial board and their theories were largely held up by a panel. A case that is never succeeded at all is accelerating. How this largest legislation has had. From one day to the next providers do not know if or how they can prescribe mifepristone. Patients and providers continue to live under and access to abortion must be protected. I applaud the efforts of the members present, my fellow speakers and all of the advocates around the country engaging in herculean efforts. I urge you and your colleagues to work with them. Thank you for the opportunity to speak at this important event and for your ongoing support. Thank you for those remarks. Now we need to tran 10 to Shivana Jorawar , codirector of the jahajee sisters. E thank you and thank you to my fellow panel members. I know it is not easy to do this work. S good afternoon members of the committee. My name is Shivana Jorawar and i use day and she pronouns. I sit before you a first generation american. Someone that is a survivor of nd Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. Someone whose life is simply would not be possible if it werent for abortion care. I was raised in the bronx and i am the only person in my family to obtain a law degree. I am an abortion storyteller and the coexecutive director of the jahajee sisters. , jahajee sisters works to an iv genderbased violence. We work with survivors of violence every day to get them to safety. It to heal and to help them live in powered lights. Im here today for them. My parents moved to the united i states in the 1970s from a small and impoverished caribbean country you may not have heard of called guyana. They began their lives in the u. S. Humbly working in factories having moved here with nothing but hope. Hope that they could one day make a better life for themselves and their families. 20 years ago i was in High School Student at an allgirls Catholic School so needless to say there was no sex education. We didnt learn about our n bodies, contraception, consent, or healthy relationships. It was at that very young age that i found myself in an emotionally and sexually abusive relationship that resulted in a pregnancy. There was absolutely no way i was ready to be a parent at 15 y years old. Figuring out next steps was not easy and i felt so alone. I was overwhelmed and terrified. I was most terrifie e so i ended up not asking anyone for help. Instead, i secretly exercise my constitutional right to an abortion. A right that somehow no longer c exists. It was so hard to gather the 400 at that age, to physically travel from the bronx to Downtown Manhattan for my care and interact with adult medical professionals. N before this every single medical appointment i had i was going with my mom. When i got there i was met even in new york city i antiabortion protesters. Even though i was in new york, it was hard. But it was so incredibly worth it. If i was forced to give birth fe at 15, if i was forced to be a mother with my abusive partner, i would have been tied to him for the rest of my life. I abortion help me escape an extremely toxic relationship and a potential lifetime is hi being under his control. Abortion meant that i could stay in school and go on to get my college degree. Years later, in college, i had a second abortion. This time through medication. This felt so much easier and lighter than it did in high vi school. I was older but i had the ability to control my pregnancyp the pills were literally in my own hands. Is someone who survived Sexual Assault and had my bodily autonomy ripped away from me, this felt so important. I could do it in the comfort of my own home, with privacy, on my own terms. As someone whos used it, approval to suspend mifepristone infuriates me. It is especially distressing because it can help alleviate the barrier of travel and high cost associated with it. Medication abortion is extremely safe and effective. It increases access because it y can be self managed. Li with guidance it is simple and o easy enough to be done without medical support. Today people are being forced to give birth. W people are increasingly criminalized for having abortions. Young people are having their dreams derailed and we know e from the turn away study that women who are denied an abortion are four times as likely to fall into poverty years later. A risk factor for ending up in an abusive relationship. And those facing Domestic Violence are impacted. They are often forced by their partners to get pregnant and prevent abortion care. Even sabotaging his control. They use this as a way to stay in contact during a relationship, even after her after it has ended. Because of my abortions i could leave an abusive relationship and complete my education. My father, who is no longer with us, took so much pride sharing with others that his daughter became a lawyer. t he saw books as a way out of poverty. W and a common saying in families like mine was, they can take everything away from you but they cant take your education. I now have a career that will allow me to help my family and Community Build generational wealth, an opportunity that was never historically available ton us. As i close, i want to be clear. Attacks on abortion are not just attacks on abortion. This is about controlling the y social mobility of people whose freedom in the status quo. They are class warfare. I extend my gratitude to those g of you who are working hard to restore Abortion Access. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and share my story. Thank you for sharing and to all of our panelists, thank you for what you do and for sharing so openly with all of us. Now we are going to turn to members of the committee for panelist questions. I will start and recognize et myself. For about five minutes. We dont have a timer, i dont think but, we want to get to as many people as possible. So, first of all, i will start with you, doctor holt. Thank you for being here and persevering in such an incredibly hostile environment and for the work you do every day. I get to see and speak with some of those people that you get to help and touch in miseryy since dobbs. I just, one thing that we do have in common, i know you know my story. I have had idabortions and i diw not know anything about medication abortion. No one ever said that was a thing. I did not hear about that. I wish i would have known. My life would be a lot different right now. Had i known. I want to start by saying thank you for sharing what happened t to you. My sister says it all the time, you should not have to go digging in your trauma to be able to help people but thank you for opening up. L let me just say to people who are at home watching this on c span, people who will read about this, those who have had abortions, those who need abortions, those who are contemplating what to do, those that are desperate for some e type of care right now, those who may be in this room, people on this panel that have had and may need that care. Get the care that you need. These five pills, should you e, choose, if you cannot get them from your doctors office, they are available online. Get the care you need. We have heard from doctors and expert it is safe and effective and there is no shame. As we heard from doctor holt, someone who works every single day telling people, educating the community about resources and access, who actually works t for Abortion Access. Abortion action. Abortion action misery. Ma you actually do the work every d day in you needed help yourself. What we are looking at is people who dont even have as ou much information as you. A were looking for people who can call and get help. You can pick up their cell phone and call. Who can call providers like you. You needed extra help s yourself. What can we say . What can we do for those that are in communities like ours, who were in missouri, texas, and the other states that have restrictions but not a full band . What can you say to them . How do they get that access . Is especially folks like are black, brown, and trans folks. Can you speak to them about those resources . Back absolutely. Ou absolutely. I first want to say, you are d not alone. Abortion is not something that we talk about in black households and communities. I want you to know you are not alone. Theres resources for you. You can go to to irplaces. Org and abortion finder. Org and c po pills. Org. These are places to get mu resources with reports connected to those resources. I want you to also know taking medication abortion or orally can help with chances you find yourself or your doctors find themselves being wrought up on criminal action supporting you,e but that support is there. I want my community to begin tov unify and have conversation around not just abortion but Reproductive Health in general. As black women, the beautiful women at the end said a lot of our communities are educated. To educate your use about contraceptive contraception, what to do when they are andu successfully able to help t people survive unwanted pregnancies. On maternal and birthing mortality rates, this comes to communication, reaching out to local organizations who support choice. It is important for us to do those things. Thank you. C now, i will turn to dr. Perritt for my last question. Thank you for taking care of nc the people who need services. G decades of research and a rigorous approval process proves that mifepristone is safe and effective as we have said over and over again today i i am concerned about the far reaching consequences of banning the medication. E can you talk about how undermining the fta will have dire consequences for other medications including vaccines, hiv and aids medications, and hormone replacement there be . Absolutely. Im going to start with h the t resources. They are critical, important, and available. They also open you up to criminalization and surveillance. So it is very careful about at what you are googling, texting, and posting on chat and social media. Y all of those things have been used to criminalize people for taking care of themselves. There is a legal helpline call if, when, how. Ed if you show up at the hospital,m you are questioned, and they may call the police. If we have said it once we havel said it in thousand times. These medications are safe. Whether i give it to you from my hand or you order it online. The risk is not medical. It is legal. O you have to be mindful. The prosecution of people self managing their own care is discriminatory. T we see that these prosecutions universally, people are living on no income. Almost always very young people and people of color. It is not just the individual. It is the supporters. So for the people helping s people access these medications come be mindful of the world that we live in and the state of the criminal legal system. A i will switch to my doctor hat now. D in terms of what this meanings in terms of undermining the fday process, there is a process for medication approval for a reason. We dont get to pick and choose what we want to be approved andt that is exactly what is happening with this medication. If you think this will end with abortion, you were delusional. This has never been about ut abortion. Not in 1973 and not in 2023. Ur its about power and control and will have much broader implications than abortion. T but, even if it was just about abortion, that would be enough. It is absolutely impacting our m ability to care about people eg experiencing pregnancy loss. It impacts our ability to qtaki care of people with autoimmune disorders. It impacts our ability to get Cancer Treatment in the time s that you need it. Because you have outside forces making decisions what you can or cannot do. Every time im asked to come to speak with legislators their questions about science and imf happy to share that. What i want you to do is to stop legislating metamedicine. I train for 20 years. I know how to do this work. I take good care of people in our community. My hope is that we can talk about the medicine and the science of politics has no place in care and that is really the intention. Or politics has no place in care. Im going to yield now to he the Ranking Member, jamie raskin. Thank you cori. Abraham lincoln said a house divided nd cannot stand and the nation would not survive long half free and have sleeved. Now we have nation divided among access to healthcare. And nation that is half free and half on free. Le half medical and half t misogynist. I think her perspective on what you think is going to happen cr longterm, what is your gut check . Can we survive like this as a country. We know colleagues who originally started by talking about the states decide, they have signed on to the bureau of bureau to create a nationwide federal ban on abortion and on our side, we support national law to restore reproductive freedom and go back to roe c versus wade. What do you think will happen . We will absolutely be in a total crisis within 35 years. Right now, there are people that were turned away from clinics. Individuals that couldnt be l served because the information was skewed between the community and doctors. So we will be looking at not just black and brown communities but every birthing v person who is capable of t conceiving a child at their current age into some type of crisis. Because, we have heard tr different ways people have conceived a child and one of the more popular ways, the most egregious, is Sexual Assault. A lot of us cant afford birth f control. We are working paycheck to paycheck. And then we are sexually assaulted. I like your answer because at least those on the pro choice side will not surrender one inch of territory in w america to authoritarians who want to control that. We are standing with the women of missouri and kentucky and et South Carolina and all over the country. We are going to insist we act like one nation with freedom for everybody. Dr. Perritt , you said it is about protecting the protecting social mobility of women and allowing them to make their own choices. And the single biggest predictor of ending poverty is whether women have control over their own fertility and whether women can control their own family lives. So, i wonder if you would e explain to somebody how you would talk to someone, a reasonable thoughtful person, who is on the other side of this. How would you tell them how your experience illuminates how this is really about giving at women agency over their lives in a way that allows them to s strengthen their families. Thank you for that question. That should be asked more often. And i appreciate what the doctor said about this being about power and control. Its not even about abortion or even about women or gender. T its about who has power and who doesnt. And maintaining the status quo. V one thing that i love to highlight when i talked to about who has abortion, it is actually those that are mothering already. We dont give moms with a need for child care. We dont give enough time off for moms or fathers and what ch this means is we force people to have children when they may not have enough to take care of the children they already have at home. They are stretched, trying to put food on the table and i d work with these women. I work with lowincome immigrants. They are nannies, home cleaners. We provide cash assistance as best we can but the idea of forcing women to have children when they are already living inl poverty, it is up seen and i feel we need to be having more conversations about the economic angle on this. Okay. Dr. Perritt, you live and work in washington, d. C. I understand that. Our committee, which would not it is not a matter of 00 concern to them, has nonetheless had a whole series of hearings about washington, d. C. The republicans in the house want to micromanage how the 700,000 people of washington, d. C. And the representatives of govern their schools, govern their elections, Voting Rights, theirt budgetary issues, you name it. They want to control all of that. We know they would gladly extinguish the right of women to choose in washington, d. C. As well. T im wondering if you would say a word on this question of du political empowerment and how that relates to the situation of washington, the ability of an dc political leaders to defend reproductive freedom and choicer absolutely. Thank you for that question. And i would be remiss if i began my response without acknowledging the amazing work that congressman congresswoman norton has done here in dc and fighting. A it is critical. You quoted abraham lincoln, if you are silent about pain, theyt will kill you and say you enjoyed it here refusing to be silent about the implications and lack of statehood for dc residents. There is an inability to make decisions about the way we spend our own money and that is unreal. We are talking about second class citizens. So folks in the district in puerto rico and territories in the united states, these are the same. T imagine what it would mean if we were to go to missouri and texas and say you no longer get a vote. We get to decide what happens to you and how you spend your money. And what your budget is. But, ty for some reason, it is acceptable in the district of columbia. This is bigger than gun rights t or abortion or choice. Zi it speaks to the integrity and understanding of the folks who reside and live in the city and it is critical that we are not just organizing each other, that you will join in this d fight as well and understand. That any assault on democracy, including the assault that we experience as residents of dc, is also an assault on this democracy that you hold so dear. Thank you. I yield to whoever is next. Thank you. Dr. Perritt, i would like to focus my questions on the unique situations of the district of columbia, which i represent. With respect to abortion. T because dc is not a state, at least not yet, congress can and has meddled in dc affairs when it comes to abortion. Congress has imposed a writer in the dc appropriation bills for years that prohibits dc from spending their own local funds on Abortion Services for lowincome women. Unfortunately, the house fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill would maintain this writer. Dr. Perritt, can you tell tell me how this writer impacts dc residents seeking Abortion Services . Ic absolutely. Thank you for that question. There was a brief period of time, i dont know if you remember, in 2009, and medicaid. Coverage was able to be used for abortion care for dc residents. That was about four months. Our rights were traded away during the federal government shutdown. I was taking care of people that day and the next day. What we spent the entirety of p the night doing was calling each patient and letting them know that they cannot have their abortion tomorrow unless you come up with the money because your insurance will not cover writ. What we are seeing in dc and so many other states where medicaid cannot be used is a two tiered system of healthcare that is grounded in where you live, what your zip code is, and more importantly, who covers your insurance. It is those with medicaid. We have people working for the armed services. S they receive their insurance at through the government and theys are impacted by this. If you live in the district of columbia, you dont even get a i vote or a voice and say i disagree with this. So, it is critical and has devastating effects and real life effects on the people seeking care. This is not a theoretical argument. Il this hurts and harms her community. Dr. Perritt, in another fiscal year 2024 appropriation bill it would prohibit dc from spending its own local funds to carry out Reproductive Health nondiscrimination act. This law prohibits lawyers from discriminating against employees and their families based on their Reproductive Health decisions. So, dr. Perritt, how do you a think dc reticent residents will be impacted if this were blocked . We are seeing impacts across the board. Certainly for dc residents and people providing abortion care. U one of the things most disappointing about this legislation is the fact that it is onesided. So, we have these clauses that c protect folks and allow them to opt out of providing essential vertical lifesaving abortion a care. There is no parallel in terms of production. If my employer decides they dont want me speaking about abortion, advocating for abortion, doing abortion, it entertaining conversations about abortion, then i could be fired from that job. We are not standing with the folks who need that care. It means he will live in a et community where you dont have s folks who are Abortion Providers. You dont have folks doing advocacy and it forces people to travel hundreds of miles away from what they are seeing. It makes people fearful. So fearful they do not seek the care. The reality of abortion is not going anywhere. Its been around before. It was here before it was legalp and Abortion Provider support people and workers doing vertical abortion work before it became a crime. Abortion care has existed in perpetuity. It will continue after this. The question is who will be harmed in the process of us working towards reproductive freedom. Finally, dr. Muqaddam, from your legal perspective, why is this law important . Im so sorry. Which particular law . The dc law . The dc law. I think it is living in fear. We have experienced a year and c decades of stigmatizing and sidelining Abortion Services and providers. Ai people who speak about abortion. Vias a result, we have a community of people who are afraid to talk about this care and to provide it. And the result is that people in their communities will suffer because they want have it access. When we talk about chilling, ro this is what we are talking about. We are talking about people that will be denied access to care. So some of what we are seeing across the united states, is this criminalization. With this care that is so essential. So, when we do anything to make it harder to talk about abortion and to make it less safe to talk about abortion, and to make it less safe to provide that care to people, the harm will be dramatic as the panelists have also talked about. There is a direct line between making people afraid and physical, emotional consequences of that. All of this points to why dc needs to become a state. After the fall of roe versus wade, Congressional Republicans could try to ban abortion in dc. They have tried recently. I yield back. Jump around in my notes. What i was writing down once again i am going to jump around in my notes. What i was writing down was that the modern face of what modern day criminals look like. One side of the aisle, a modern day criminal looks like doctors, women, and drag queens. It doesnt look like donald trump and his various associates who have actually gone to prison. It doesnt look like those that are hoarding our national secrets. And doing it in a careless way. Thats not what it looks like. It does not look like my classmate George Santos who has multiple indictments. But, instead, what one party is so upset about is women and their Healthcare Providers. And, their friends and family that are trying to make sure that dave been around for long time. The people exercising what it is to be prolife. That is the people that are being criminalized under one party idea of what a criminal looks like. As a recovering criminal defense attorney, i am curious to know, doctor love, your story touched me in ways that, even as a texan, where unfortunately, weve got all the bad stories. We really do. It amazes me that we can reach a new height for me. But, your story did that for me. I dont know if you recall but, as you are opening up, one of the first things that you talked about, was worrying about whether or not you would go to jail. So, as i was serving in the texas house last year, when they pushed forward with the criminalization, it was a trigger lot. So long as roe versus wade was over termed, the trigger would come into place. Now people are facing 599 or life. As someone that has done civil rights work, we have had Law Enforcement officers that finally did get arrested. Finally did get indicted. Finally did get convicted. Many of them were not even facing 599 or life. There is a wellknown case where an officer walked into a gentlemans home while he was sitting on his couch eating ice cream. She killed him. She wasnt facing 599 or life. What i would like to ask of you is, is how does one move forward in living in a state that says ive got to sit there and make a decision between, do i go to the hospital so i can hopefully have lifesaving care or will going to the hospital mean that i am facing prison time . How does one go through that analysis . Well, i will say is a person going through that right now, the pill, for me, is my Community Members who dont understand these laws and what that means for them. I had a person come to me recently who was so unsure about abortion laws she decided to keep a child that she knew she wasnt ready for. She decided that she did not even want to think about the logistics that it would take for her to receive an abortion. I counseled her through all of the methods in gave her numbers and gave her a proper recommendation, she still was unsure. Because of what is happening on the news and what she is hearing about in florida, people going to prison for miscarrying, its very scary. People are trying to navigate and not communicate with trusted providers and they put themselves at risk and in danger of losing their lives because they want to manage an abortion and they are uneducated to do so. Thank you. Dr. Perritt. Good old dc. We have had a couple of dc hearings and they want to talk about dc crime a lot. I will agree that all of us, regardless of where you live, we want to be safe. So, we are having these hearings and these hearings have been focused on these random numbers, dc does not have control of much of what goes on in the criminal justice system, as it is, but, one thing we are not addressing his real crime. Most people, at least in my district, they are concerned about guns being on the street. And, for whatever reason, we cant have real conversations about that. From your perspective as a Healthcare Provider, because one of the things we dont talk about enough is, number one let me say thank you for the work that you do. Let me back up a little bit. So many of our Healthcare Providers are overwhelmed because of what has happened in states like mine. So, you have a matter of just a handful of states that are allowing for you all to do what you were trained to do and that is causing another colossal effect because, even if i come to you and i have time to get the services that i need, because of the backlog, because of how many people are coming to you, it is adding another layer of complexities. But talk to me about how it feels . Because, im sure when you were in med school, nobody was talking about that. There may come a time when you have to go to jail or or you may be facing jail. Talk to me about being a Healthcare Provider in the current circumstances right now and facing potential criminal consequences and how it affects what you do or dont do Going Forward . I grew up in dc in the middle of the war on drugs. Going to jail was always a possibility. The reality is the war on drugs is a failed experiment designed for mass incarceration for people that look like me. That is one of the reasons why the conversations about violence and criminality in the district is so deeply frustrating to me. This idea that we can and should lean more deeply into the logic to get out of this mess. Mass incarceration has not reduced violence. It has not eliminated the harm happening in communities. That is not the solution and how dare you determine for the residents of this city what a solution should look like it is an outrage and despicable. What does it mean for me as a Healthcare Provider . We all make decisions around risk and benefit in each moment of the day. I did not believe i would ever be making these kinds of decisions and determining whether or not i care for an individual. The only thing i ever wanted to be in my entire black life is a doctor. Thats it. I came here knowing that was the work i was supposed to do. So, to have to make a decision to either take care of my community, this community that helps me earn my degree, this community that i am accountable to, the cares for me and that i care for, and to make decisions about whether or not i will prioritize myself, my safety in lieu of the health and safety and wellbeing of these people around me, it is heart wrenching. It is disappointing and criminal. In my opinion, that is the true crime. We now will yield to representative khanna. Thank you, representatives we sometimes dont get to hear this on our regular committees. [ inaudible ] i just want to say thank you for putting this together. It has been very emotional and thank you for sharing that. It is not easy to talk about that in public. I was very moved by [ inaudible ] story. It is parallel to that of my family. I was struck by your comments about reproductive rights and access to abortion is not just health and about making sure that people are safe but it is also about education. It turns out you are not alone. The statistics are overwhelming. [ inaudible ] 71 increase. 71 . We know when people have access to abortion, they often have better pay. We know that when people have access to abortion, they are more likely to be able to participate in the labor force. So, i would like you and anyone else to speak about how the denial of this fundamental right is not just an affront to dignity but actively entrenching any quality. In our country. It is really hurting women from getting the education, the pay, the jobs as equals in society. I believe that roe and the right to an abortion is a matter of protection. I would love to hear your comments, miss jorawar. Of course. Thank you for that question on notice saying, in addition to what you just shared, we know that people are less likely to have Credit Scores good enough to purchase homes and home owning is something that can improve the success rate of you passing on generational wealth. So, it is really about who has power and not just about abortion care. The other thing that i think a lot about, because of course where i work, and the organization that i lead, is the connection to Domestic Violence. Violence is also something that holds people back from what we think of as the american dream. We know that recently the Domestic Violence National Hotline came out with a study that says that the reports of dv to the hotline have gone up 99 since the overturn of roe. 99 . That is not a coincidence. Think about the demographic of people that are calling. When we talk about abortion it is not just Reproductive Health. Its about so many other things. It is about who has power in society and we need to continue to put that forward. Another thing i want to mention, and it was mentioned earlier, although this is happening in states where there are restrictions, theres a huge impact on states like mine. Like new york. We are seeing a backlog and longer wait times. It is a huge issue if you are talking about gestational age and getting abortion care. If you can find someone who can do it for you and our abortion funds in new york, they are severely underfunded. They were seeing 20 of colors from outside of new york before roe and now they are seeing 37 . In queens, a clinic saw a 300 increase in patients from texas alone. This is a nationwide crisis regardless of what happens with this fda case. Thank you. Now we will yield to representative lee. Thank you so much. Sorry i was late and didnt get to hear your testimony but, i think our colleagues who put this together and for coming and sharing your expertise and experience on this topic. This is a conversation that is not getting easier. We are getting deeper and deeper into it. I think how often in this space how much of this conversation glosses over humidity. It impacts disparately, women who look like me and birthing people that look like me. I am from pittsburgh and that has one of the worst maternal black mortality rates in the united states. America leads in that particular figure. When i come to this debate, i come from a personal state. Is someone who lost a black friend and their baby to this crisis. And, the continued attacks that we see from our colleagues. The ways in which those who are prochoice dont often understand the full depth of the humanity, particularly for birthing people. This Dobbs Decision has thrown the country into chaos. Its a much longer road. We know that is not enough. We are taking steps to protect abortion. We are one of the mifepristone states being litigated. We are petitioning to keep mifepristone accessible. The fifth circuit has ruled rolled that back. What does that mean for the states who were a part of the lawsuit . This is an unprecedented situation. It has never been for this but we are grateful to pennsylvania and other states in washington. They bring litigation and they were able to get relief and provide comfort in those states to give back here. Those states have an order, irrespective of the decisions in the texas case, the provide that security. This has been essential because providers in that state are on a new frontier of Abortion Services. They are providing Abortion Services to those states and thousands of others that are traveling to their state. It has been a privilege to represent the same group because it has provided comfort for people in the states that support Abortion Access and seek to protect their residents. It is one of the most preposterous aspects of the alliance case. In a state where abortion is banned, there is an order attempting to come after medication. We are very grateful to the states that are leading that case, including washington, and we hope to achieve really for providers not in the states to support. What are the implications for states that take proactive measures to protect access to healthcare . To be frank, we dont know. The legal ramifications of this are unprecedented. We are in a crisis of two americas. What is a credible incredible about this at the moment, as horrifying as antichoice in support is, states have taken unprecedented strides. For example, filing a case to protect access to abortion is no small thing. 17 states in the district of columbia have. They said that medication abortion is essential. Our residents need it and we will do everything we can to cut keep that. So we encourage states in this moment to take those steps and do the things that were never done before. Because, peoples lives are on the line. Using every toll that we have in the shed. Reverend doctor holt, would there be a disparate impact on people of color if there was a ban on medication abortion . Absolutely. He we are 400 years after slavery in america. What some would see is a successful breaking of our mail counterparts, this is an attempt to cause bodily restrictions on black bodies. Therefore making it harder for us to make normal decisions. Therefore providing a quality of life in a place that we should be free for choice and whatever direction we would like to go in. Creating another narrative of trauma in the backs of our minds. One thing that black people will do is strive to thrive. We will do anything we can to survive and sustain some sense of a quality of life all while trauma is running in the background. That is what we will continue to do as these laws try to restrict and confine us. We will power through these traumatic instances and we will unify to support each other through safe, successful, self administered abortion. Thank you. Access to abortion care is not limitless and only available to privileged people. Treating lowincome americans owned medicaid as secondclass citizens and bans them from receiving abortion care. Those fleeing extremist policies have limited access to our care system. What impact have you seen on the states for those whose neighboring states have restricted Abortion Access . Weve seen significant impacts and we have heard about the backlog. We need to understand the way that abortion Care Transitions in this country to understand how we got here. The freestanding abortion clinics came to the development of an attempt to create a feminist model of healthcare that was removed from organized medical systems. Previously, you had to go through it an abortion in a hospital. A doctor, typically a male, was advocating for you to get a good enough reason to get an abortion. These brave folks made it moved it out of that system and made it freestanding. The downside to that is it also stigmatized this kind of care. It limited the number and amount of people who can provide this service. So when we look at what is happening in states like pennsylvania compared to states that are neighboring or nearby, once that we might trouble to, we can see these small independent abortion clinics that have almost always provided other Healthcare Services too, gender affirming care, primary care, contraceptive care, counseling, they are overloaded. They do not see the same attention to funding as communitybased organizations that we see going to cpc or big clinics. They have not received this influx of funding despite the fact that communitybased organizations organizations. Now, when we have folks that are traveling in from neighboring states and across the country to get this care, it is impossible to meet the needs of every person. It has been nearly impossible for us to care for people in our community because we are under resourced. We are underfunded. Somebody mentioned protesters outside. Imagine what that means to seek your care. So, the solution is not in creating the socalled sanctuary cities for abortion. That is not a thing. We are all at risk. As long as we continue with the idea that some places are safe and some are not, we will never have equity around access to care. No one is safe. Thank you. On that note, i am not used to this format where we get maybe more than five minutes. I dont want to put stress on the system but thank you for staying with us and thank you for your testimony. I will end by saying that the republicans have never cared about the lives of babies or children. If they did they would not be cutting access to healthcare, childcare. They would not be ignoring our black Maternal Mortality crisis. They would not be blocking paid sick leave and so many other things that they have been doing consistently. Thank you so much and i yield back. Now we turn it over to our final member to speak at this roundtable. Representative goldman. Thank you all for being here. Congress member bullish, crockett, and raskin. I am pleased that you have called us here today and provided an opportunity for these amazing people to get their perspective on what is a critical issue. The one thing i want to start out by saying is, this is not just a womans issue. This is an american issue. And i will tell you as a man who has five children. Four girls. I care incredibly about the future of our children. Boys and girls. Watched five pregnancies and five deliveries. This is not isolated to womens rights. This is individual rights. Individual freedoms and i am very proud to be here and stand with all of you as we continue this fight. I want to highlight, because the lawyer in me gets a little amped up about medication abortion and a lot of the case law cases going around the country and the regulatory scheme, congresswoman to and i wrote a letter to the five largest retail pharmacies to ask them why they have not begun the process of getting certified to distribute mifepristone pursuant to the fda regulations that came out in january. Medication abortion, as you will know, i have not been here the whole time, but it constitutes more than 50 of all abortions. Its an incredibly safe way to use Reproductive Healthcare. It is safer than tylenol. And yet, we obviously have a tax on it for political reasons around the country. But i am especially frustrated at the response by several of the pharmacies. We wrote to walmart, safeway, kroger, costco, and health mark. All but cosco responded. Basically all of them punted. They said its a very complicated legal framework. Its a complicated situation right now. It is not complicated in states where abortion is permitted. There is nothing complicated about the basic and obvious right and access for people to get medication abortion and yet, they still have not begun the certification process in any of those states where it is legal. Miss im sorry. I know you were one of the lawyers appear who is fighting this. The thing that jumps out to me about it and why i think this avenue is so important is not just because we need to increase access to medication abortion. But, because of the preemption clause. Federal law preempts state law. So if it federal law allows for medication abortion and federal law allows for telehealth across state lines, that is an avenue for women in states that have banned abortion to get access to it. Depending on the draconian measures that are taken in those states. I am curious what your perspective is on that argument. I feel like i might be a bit of a broken record on this. This is unprecedented. We frankly dont know and i cannot speak to exactly how that theory might work. What i can say is, this is a perfect example of how, when some states ban abortion and seek to eliminate it, this is a cascade of consequences. I think the reluctance and the fear, even amongst some of the National Well resourced entities that you are talking about, they are afraid. They are afraid for a reason. They are afraid that the attorneys general of the states that have banned abortion, they are threatening every single thing they can in of including prosecution. Even where it is clear that these pharmacies could become certified and could dramatically increase access to abortion. Abortion is only a reality when you can get it. When you have the funding to get it. And you have the support to get it. A man pharmacies make decisions to to political realities, they are denying people access. Those people are disproportionately black people, women of color, and others who lack resources. So, i encourage those companies and every other National Organization who supports Peoples Health and the well being to respond a different way. Because, the fda made those decisions for a reason. They made them because there is copious Scientific Evidence supporting the use of telehealth to provide medication abortion. So, when we make people afraid, it does not matter, necessarily. The fda made the correct judgment that it is safe and effective and will dramatically. Even states that is i think, a sign of a legal crisis right here. There is absolutely nothing that says these companies should not become certified subscribers and providing medication abortion. When you talk about the impacts on states that permit abortion, this is where we are seeing it. These companies have pharmacies in those states and they will not distribute mifepristone in states that allow it because they have not gotten there national certification. And, dr. Perritt, you have spoken to this passionately and sensibly and cogently. There is a reason the fda is charged with overseeing our scientific prescription drugs and medicine. Theres a reason why politicians are not. And there is a reason, frankly, why judges are not. So, i applaud your efforts to bring to light how important it is for the scientists in the room to make these decisions. Not the politicians or the judges with personal views that are infecting their opinions. The last thing i will just say, and i know we have been here a while, and i appreciate your time. I agree there is a lot of pressure, especially legal pressure, on a lot of these companies. But i think it is high time we start putting political pressure on them too. That is what we were trying to do with this and that is what we will continue to do. They need to hear from the American People that it is long past time that they get certified and provide access to this incredibly safe medication that allows women to make their own individual choices about their own Reproductive Healthcare. I am very grateful we had this opportunity and thank you all for coming. I look forward to continuing to work that we have to do to make sure that abortion is accessible to everyone. Thank you. That was the end of our panelist questions for this roundtable. We think every single one of you all for answering and being so open. We are going to go ahead and close and start with Closing Remarks from representative crockett. I will keep it brief. Congressman goldman really just threw me an alley you. Which we tend to do on this committee. I think what he was getting at is the intersection audi that exists. I mean, people want to act as if this is a choice. If you are prochoice you are not prolife and vice versa. You have laid out the disproportionate impact and you have laid it out and said it is not just a matter of access. Its a matter of financial. You laid out all of the things and we have talked about the numbers. Especially when we Start Talking about women of color. One of the things that dan was saying is, basically, he does not have a uterus but he stands with those of us that do. But the point to be made is that this is not a fight that should be just women. This is all of our fight. The way that i want people to understand this is you dont have to have an opinion about if you feel like abortion is something that somebody should or should not do. To be perfectly honest, it is nobodys business. We can start their. In addition to that this is the only healthcare decision that we say is a public decision. Otherwise we are usually lie hippa, hippa. Cant tell my business. That the government is all up in this healthcare decision. If you dont understand, if you sit on the sidelines and you believe that this is not my fight, just know that they are coming for something that you care about next. This is all of our fights. We look at the Supreme Court and they did not stop at these rights. Then they went after the faux website situations just to do something to the Lgbtq Community to make them feel like they are lesser than. They then decided affirmative action, why not . We are doing good so lets go after some more people. So, to be clear, its not about whether or not you agree. Its about whether or not you believe in democracy. If you are proamerican, pro freedom. You should be in this fight. It does not matter if you have a uterus. It does not matter if you feel like that is a decision that someone should make. What you have to understand is that this fight is just getting started. And, unfortunately, it is already getting ugly. The only people that seem to be protected right now are old white men. If you are not an old white man, they are coming for you. That is my wrapping up of this conversation. It is not about if you agree with abortion itself. Because half of the people fighting against this dont have an understanding about how a womans body works in the first place. I know we didnt get on it and talk about how many times a woman actually aborts a fetus naturally. It is literally survival of the fittest. It is a lot to be pregnant. We have a lot of women, specifically in texas, that have fought to be pregnant, and because pregnancies are not just a walk in the park, they are definitely difficult on a womans body, we have women who wanted their children but because of him lawmakers thinking that they know better about what a woman should and should not be able to do, they will not be able to bear a child. That is a problem. That is not what freedom looks like and that is not what this country is supposed to look like. So thank you for being on the front lines. We have amazing girl power here and i applaud dan for ringing it up. It is everybody site. Thank you for being here. Thank you. And again to our panelist, thank you for sharing and bringing forward the resources. I will just say lastly, we wont allow. We havent and we wont allow some rightwing agenda to get in the way of healthcare. This is healthcare for people. Im thinking of these five pills again. If i have an asthma attack and i have to go to the hospital and they give me a pill pack, it is bigger than this. It is bigger than this for an asthma attack. Five pills for a human being. Five pills for a human being to take care of their own body. A necessity that should only belong to them. Between them and if they have a provider that provider, this is the decision of the person who needs it. So every birthing person and every pregnant person that needs it, get the care you need. If you need the resources, listen to this again. We have people up here and organizations appear. Specialists that can help you. We have lawyers up here. These organizations and folks are here and ready and willing to help you regardless of where you live. Resources are there dont matter where you live, no matter what attacks have come, no matter what they say you can and cannot do. No matter if they threaten jail. Get the information and get the right information. There is misinformation and disinformation out there. Would you say again what the organizations are . If when how. They have a hotline. And where do we get pills . Ineedana. Com. Take care of yourself. Now i yield to the Ranking Member of the oversight and Accountability Committee. Our hero. Jamie raskin. Thank you representative bush. Thank you to our great witnesses today. Thank you for putting the issue where it belongs on the question of human freedom. At any time this country has been on the wrong side of freedom, we have had a struggle and we have come out on the right side of freedom. I am not a big drinker but i would not throw other people into jail for having a drink just because i dont drink, right . Its freedom of people to make their own choices for their own lives. We are in a very serious struggle, as all of our witnesses have said, to protect people and help them get through this. Part of it is, as dan goldman says is, we have to act as a federal legislature to do what we can to protect people choices. Part of that is going to be vindicating the constitutional right to travel. A lot of these red states are saying not can you just not have an abortion and its a criminal act, but you cant leave the state for the purpose of accessing an abortion. You cannot cross state lines for the purposes of healthcare. So they are passing what i would call fugitive womens laws. Where women who cross state lines are supposed to be sent back or picked up so they can be restored to the role of their oppressors back in their home state. That is our responsibility as a congress to act as quickly as we can and to vindicate everybodys right under the equal protection clause, to travel across state lines to obtain healthcare. We have to be very serious about that. Obviously, we have elections coming up and america, there are led lee elect antichoice majorities that would pass the federal ban on anybody having an abortion anywhere in america and criminalizing the women, the doctors, the nurses, and anyone who participates. Or america could elect robust prochoice majorities that would restore the right of women to make their own healthcare choices. I hope it is in 2024, that it is coming. We will get there to make that choice. In the meantime, im starting to think around here, its a lot like before the silverware when the proslavery forces past a bunch of rules that you could not talk about slavery. You literally could not mention slavery in congress. That was a violation of the rules. They havent passed a rule against mentioning it but there are no hearings about it. None of our bills get to the hearing. None of our bills get to the floor. They talked about it all the time before the Dobbs Decision about how abortion was murder, now you cant mention it because they know the vast majority of americans oppose their authoritarian agenda. They dont want anyone to talk about it and they dont want legislative action on it. They dont want any votes on it. Until they, and violates Voting Rights in the country to bring back gerrymandering majorities. What do we have to do . We have got to talk about it. So i want to commend ms. Bush and ms. Crockett for taking the initiative to organize this today. So that voices are heard from around america about what is actually taking place in states that have gone down this really dark authoritarian road of controlling the lives of women. Not doing anything to help the lives of women and help their families but simply to restrict their freedom. That is a wrote that those states will come to regret. We are going to continue to fight until we restore freedom for everyone in america. Thank you ms. Bush. I yield back to you. Thank you for joining our roundtable on medication abortion. Number one is done. [background noises] cspan is a review. This syndrome is extremely rare. Friends dont have to be. When you are connected, you are not alone. Cox supports cspan. As well as these other stations. Giving you a front seat to democracy. American history tv, saturdays on cspan 2. Exploring the people and events from history. George Washington University lecturer clement talks about american policy and about how programs by johnson sought to offer security to the poorest americans. And then, a look at how president s are portrayed in film. The White House Historical association and the library of congress hosted a discussion that included movies like kisses for my president , the man, and lincoln. Find a full schedule on your Program Guide or watch online anytime at cspan. Org