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Today on the House floor, Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) led debate for House Democrats against H.R. 4828, the Conscience Protection Act, a bill that would allow medical providers to withhold information from female patients if they believe it would lead to an abortion. Click here for video of today’s speech.

Excerpts of Congressman McGovern’s Speech:

“We are considering H.R. 4828, the so-called Conscience Protection Act, which ironically is yet another unconscionable attempt to take away women’s right to healthcare.

“Under current law, hospitals and other healthcare providers can already refuse service to an individual based on the practitioner’s own moral objection. But this legislation would take this a step further and actually permit the withholding of medical information about a patient’s condition if the physician believes that such information could potentially lead to an abortion.

“Bosses would be permitted to impose their own religious beliefs across their entire company by withholding abortion services on employer-sponsored health plans. It is not an employer’s decision what type of medical care is needed by their employees. Woman have the same rights to access to health care as men do, and no boss should be able to deny them that right.

“This will be the House Republicans’ 13th vote to attack women’s health care in this Congress alone. Thirteen times we have gone down a similar road. How can we possibly consider a bill that would allow insurance companies, doctors, or health care facilities to substitute their own religious opinion for actual medical information? Every woman should be able to trust that when they go to their doctor, they are receiving all the facts and information that they need to make their own health decisions.

“Encouraging doctors to withhold vital information from women about their health is outrageous and incredibly dangerous. Such a reckless bill has no place in Congress. This bill is nothing more than the latest attempt by House Republicans to appeal to their extreme right-wing base.

“This legislation does not include any exemption in the case of rape, incest, or endangering the life of the woman, and would preempt any state law that does allow for the coverage of abortion.

“Women’s health must always come first and this only puts more lives at risk. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle not to support it.”

Click here for video of today’s speech.

Full Text of Congressman McGovern’s Speech:

“We are also considering a totally unrelated bill H.R. 4828, the so-called Conscience Protection Act, which ironically is yet another unconscionable attempt to take away women’s right to healthcare.

“Under current law, hospitals and other healthcare providers can already refuse service to an individual based on the practitioner’s own moral objection. But this legislation would take this a step further and actually permit the withholding of medical information about a patient’s condition if the physician believes that such information could potentially lead to an abortion.

“Bosses would be permitted to impose their own religious beliefs across their entire company by withholding abortion services on employer-sponsored health plans. It is not an employer’s decision what type of medical care is needed by their employees. Woman have the same rights to access to health care as men do, and no boss should be able to deny them that right.

“This will be the House Republicans’ 13th vote to attack women’s health care in this Congress alone. Thirteen times we have gone down a similar road. How can we possibly consider a bill that would allow insurance companies, doctors, or health care facilities to substitute their own religious opinion for actual medical information? Every woman should be able to trust that when they go to their doctor, they are receiving all the facts and information that they need to make their own health decisions.

“Encouraging doctors to withhold vital information from women about their health is outrageous and incredibly dangerous. Such a reckless bill has no place in Congress. This bill is nothing more than the latest attempt by House Republicans to appeal to their extreme right-wing base.

“This legislation does not include any exemption in the case of rape, incest, or endangering the life of the woman, and would preempt any state law that does allow for the coverage of abortion.

“We have countless women sharing their stories of how these types of laws have had devastating and tragic effects on them. One woman’s water broke at 20 weeks prematurely, and doctors determined that the fetus would not survive birth. The Catholic Hospital she was at refused to perform an abortion since the fetus still had a heartbeat. For seven weeks, this woman had to carry a fetus in her, with the knowledge that it had no chance of survival. It wasn’t until she was suffering from severe hemorrhaging that a hospital would finally induce labor, the baby died almost immediately after birth, as doctors expected.

“Another woman’s water broke prematurely at 18 weeks. She rushed to the nearest hospital, which was a Catholic hospital. Doctors knew that the fetus was no longer viable and would die immediately upon birth, however this information was withheld from the woman, she was simply given two Tylenol and sent home unaware that there was no chance that her child would survive birth.  The woman returned twice more, each time with severe bleeding and it was only at the end of the second visit as they were sending her home, she went into labor and gave birth. They baby died within hours, as the doctors expected.

“Women’s health must always come first and this only puts more lives at risk. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle not to support it.”

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