May 10, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 78 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H3719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRUMP ADMINISTRATION REFUSES RULE

  (Ms. SCHAKOWSKY asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to condemn the Trump 
administration's dangerous final rule that allows healthcare workers to 
discriminate against patients based on their personal beliefs.
  Too often, healthcare in this country is riddled with inequality, and 
while Democrats in the House are working to address this, the 
administration is trying to make it worse.
  This policy will be most harmful to our sisters of color who often 
live in areas with hospitals that may refuse comprehensive reproductive 
healthcare, including abortion and birth control.
  Refusals have already threatened the life of women with pregnancy 
complications. This rule could make the maternal mortality crisis among 
African American women even worse.
  This is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to impose 
their beliefs and take away our healthcare and our rights, and I will 
continue to fight to ensure that healthcare is equal for all Americans.
  Dr. Lawren, from my home state of Illinois, wrote to the Trump 
Administration in response to this rule.
  She said, ``As a physician, it is absolutely crucial that I provide 
the same level of care for every patient no matter how my own beliefs 
differ from theirs. I often have patients with whom I disagree about a 
wide spectrum of political and social causes. It would be so 
outrageously inappropriate for me to use that as grounds to change my 
medical care or to alter the level of respect and compassion I show for 
these patients.''

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