"Women deserve the right to choose"
In response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision yesterday limiting a woman's right to choose, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) joined as an original co-sponsor in the re-introduction of the Freedom of Choice Act in the House of Representatives today.
"As a medical doctor who has witnessed first hand the horrors of what can happen if a woman cannot freely choose a course of action in consultation with a health professional, I am gravely concerned when the Supreme Court votes to insert itself into the room with a doctor and patient," McDermott said. "We must pass the Freedom of Choice Act to codify the historic- and ethically appropriate- Roe v. Wade decision."
The Freedom of Choice Act was introduced in the House by a close colleague to Rep. McDermott, Democrat Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who is the Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Senator Barbara Boxer is introducing the companion bill in the Senate today.
"We have plenty of evidence of what happens when government forces its way into the lives and medical decisions affecting women," McDermott said.
"Women deserve the right to choose," McDermott declared. "They deserve the right to choose in private with their doctor, and not the U.S. Supreme Court listening in and making medical decisions. Yesterday's decision criminalizes doctors and that is a threat that is unjustified, unethical, and wholly inappropriate."
McDermott pledged to work with House colleagues for passage of the Freedom of Choice Act. Some form of this legislation has been introduced in several prior congresses, and McDermott said the make-up of the current Supreme Court makes it imperative that Congress act now.
"With all due respect, the U.S. Supreme Court does not have a license to practice medicine, but their decision could permit politics to overrule medicine," McDermott said. "This is the first step away from Roe v. Wade and we must not allow that to happen or no one will be safe."