Chairman Aguilar: House Democrats are fighting to restore Reproductive Freedom for every American

June 26, 2024

Chairman Aguilar: House Democrats are fighting to restore Reproductive Freedom for every American

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu held a press conference with DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene and Rep. Kim Schrier, M.D. highlighting the commitment of House Democrats to restore Reproductive Freedom two years after the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning, good morning. Before I begin, I wanted to wish the Women's Softball team good luck as they take on the Capitol press team. Could be a source of friction in this room, but we're all raising money for charity. And I'm grateful that Kim Schrier-one of the stars of our team-is joining us here today, as well as the DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene for hosting our caucus meeting this morning across the street. This morning we discussed the two year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, which has left one in three women in this country living under an abortion ban. As we mark the solemn occasion, the choice confronting the American people could not be more clear. House Democrats are fighting to restore reproductive freedom for every American; House Republicans are marching towards a national abortion ban. House Democrats are fighting for every American's right to access IVF if they choose to do so, and Extreme MAGA Republicans are filing amendments to block funding for IVF-because they were never going to stop until they overturn Roe.

Joe Biden will be standing on the debate stage tomorrow defending the right of women to seek an abortion and Donald Trump must own his devastating Supreme Court Justices who have caused this pain to so many across our country. This is the choice that our country faces, House Democrats and Joe Biden are team Roe, Donald Trump and House Republicans are team Dobbs.

With that, I'll yield to Caucus Vice Chair, Ted Lieu.

VICE CHAIR LIEU: As Chairman Aguilar mentioned, this was their two-year anniversary of the overruling of Roe v. Wade. Donald Trump and Republicans campaigned on overturning Roe v. Wade, Donald Trump nominated extremely conservative Supreme Court Justices, Senate Republicans confirmed those Justices, those Justices then overturned Roe v. Wade, Donald Trump and Republicans celebrated and bragged about the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Joe Biden will sign the law to codify Roe v. Wade. The two parties are not the same.

This week, the U.S. Surgeon General also announced for the first time in U.S. history, the truth that gun violence is a public health crisis. The Biden Administration and House Democrats are working to reduce gun violence and to make sure that we don't have guns get in the hands of people who should not have them. And again, the two parties are not the same.

It's now my honor to introduce our great DCCC Chairwoman Suzan DelBene. Under her leadership, at the beginning of this term, Democrats had to flip five seats to flip the House, now it's four because in February Tom Suozzi, our amazing candidate, won a special election. And now, Suzan is going to tell you about the New York results last night as well.

DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene: Good morning, everyone. Thanks to Chair Aguilar and Vice Chair Lieu we just finished up a great caucus meeting where folks were fired up and ready and eager to take back the House in less than five months.

And this week, we're reminded of how high the stakes of this election are. As we all know, Monday marked the second anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, since that terrible day where American women lost a fundamental, constitutional protection, 21 states have either banned abortion or severely restricted it. We've heard countless stories of women denied life-saving medical care because of these extreme state bans.

Now more than ever, the public is experiencing the tragic consequences of allowing politicians to dictate what medical care women can and cannot receive. After cheerleading the overturning of Roe two years ago, House Republicans refused to stop their attacks on reproductive freedom. Despite all of their dysfunction and chaos, they've managed to stay united on at least one thing: a constant pursuit of passing bills and policies to chip away at abortion rights all towards their ultimate goal of passing a national abortion ban.

Their unity behind this anti-freedom agenda is a frightening reminder that there are no more moderate Republicans in the House. In fact, in South Carolina, the last three GOP women in the State Senate were ousted in primaries for the heresy of standing with Democrats to block a near-total abortion ban in that state. They're doing all of this despite the fact that support for abortion rights is increasing across the country, with more than 60 percent of voters in battleground states supporting legal abortion. As support for reproductive freedom grows, it's also clear that it's increasingly becoming a deal-breaker issue for many voters, meaning they would not support someone who disagreed with them on these fundamental freedoms.

Knowing this, House Republicans are trying to downplay their extremism by dismissing it as a non-issue or hiding it altogether. Vulnerable House Republicans have been caught editing and deleting their extreme anti-abortion positions on their public websites. We're going to hold them accountable for that. No matter how hard they try, they won't be able to run away from their anti-abortion extremism or the role they played in overturning Roe. Whether in California or Pennsylvania and in all the purple districts in between, we will make sure that the public is reminded that the loss of reproductive freedom we suffered two years ago and the constant attacks against our rights is because of them.

This election is about our rights, our freedom, our democracy and our future. Come November we'll take back the House of Representatives to get our government back to work to protect and restore reproductive freedom once and for all.

And now, I want to introduce my colleague right next door in the Eighth Congressional District of Washington, Dr. Kim Schrier.

REP. SCHRIER: Thank you, Chairwoman DelBene.

Two years ago, the Supreme Court made the disastrous decision to overturn Roe, upending 50 years of precedent, and practically overnight ripping this fundamental freedom away from a third of the women in this country. As one of just two pro-choice women doctors in Congress, I was outraged then and I continue to be just as outraged now. This decision goes far beyond abortion. It is about who has power over you as women, who has the authority to make very personal decisions for you and who can control your future. Our rights are no longer safe. This particular medical decision, when and whether to become pregnant, is one that impacts every element of a woman's life and the freedom to chart the course of her life. Now, sometimes this decision has to happen later, after a woman has chosen to start a family but something goes terribly wrong with the pregnancy. But either way, I want to emphasize this decision is hers, not the government's.

We are seeing the dangerous consequences of this extreme Dobbs decision every single day: women with miscarriages not getting the standard treatment that they need; women forced to carry non-viable pregnancies to term. And so now, now we're even seeing attacks on IVF-on in vitro fertilization-which so many families rely on to have a successful pregnancy. And we're seeing attacks even on birth control. In the year 2024, this is beyond outrageous. There is no place for politics in the exam room. So, bring us a Democratic majority and we will bring a bill to the floor of the House make Roe the law of the land and restore these fundamental freedoms for women. Thank you.

Video of the full press conference and Q&A can be viewed here.

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