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Hey, Congress! Halloween Was Last Week

Elayne Weiss,
Washington Legislative Office
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November 7, 2013

Am I confused, or didn’t we celebrate Halloween last week? I distinctly remember handing out candy to the ghouls and goblins that banged on my door demanding sweets. But it looks like anti-choice lawmakers didn’t check their calendar, because they’re scaring the U.S. populace with terrible legislation introduced today threatening women’s health and wellbeing. That’s enough to snap you out of your Halloween candy-induced sugar coma.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) just introduced a bill that would impose a nationwide ban on abortion care at 20 weeks of pregnancy. This is just the latest attempt to rob women of their right to make private medical decisions free from political interference.

Senator Graham isn’t the only one who needs to check his calendar. Earlier this year, the House passed similar legislation introduced by Representative Trent Franks (R-AZ). It’s exasperating and scary that lawmakers like Sen. Graham and Rep. Franks continue to disregard medical science and women’s wellbeing in favor of politics and ideology, pushing dangerous legislation that will harm women.

We know that every pregnancy is different. None of us can presume to know what complications may arise during a pregnancy or all the circumstances surrounding the decision to continue or end a pregnancy. This is an inherently private decision that must be made by a woman and her family, not by politicians who think they know better.

It’s time for politicians to stop interfering in women’s most personal, private medical decisions. We can’t let people like Sen. Graham and Rep. Franks, with their wrong-headed beliefs regarding women’s reproductive health, dictate what’s best left between a woman, her family, and her doctor.

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