Eugene Henleben's 100th Birthday

Floor Speech

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Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Speaker, for 1\1/2\ years now, people in Texas who are able to do so have been traveling out of State to obtain abortion care, and now that 15 other States have banned abortion, more people are traveling even farther to get the reproductive healthcare that they need.

In response to this exercise of the constitutional right to travel, lawmakers and others in Texas--and in States across the country--are threatening to take away that right, too.

These threats fail not only to reflect the will of the majority of people in this country, these threats fail to recognize the fundamental rights of Americans guaranteed in our Constitution.

Congress has the authority and the responsibility to protect people from these unconstitutional efforts to prevent, restrict, impede, or otherwise punish a person traveling to another State to obtain a legal abortion and to protect healthcare providers and others who assist that person.

Last week, I reintroduced the Ensuring Women's Right to Reproductive Freedom Act which passed this House last year with Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland, Congressman Jamie Raskin, and more than 150 original cosponsors.

Madam Speaker, I urge the House to pass this bill, once again, to protect this fundamental right.

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