A nationwide abortion ban would widen disparities in health care and boost maternal mortality, especially among black women, doctors and advocates told a panel of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday.

“Women’s progress has always been closely linked to our ability to control our own bodies,” said Joslyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, during a three-hour-plus meeting on oversight and Speaking to members of the US House Committee on Reform, hearings at the Rayburn House office building.

“Access to abortion is vitally important for women and everyone who gives birth,” Frye continued. “Studies show that restricting abortion affects the health, safety and well-being of pregnant people.”

Earlier this month, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R.C., announced that state-level restrictions would replace state-level restrictions, further fueling the debate over access to abortion after a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling that would take 15 weeks. proposed a bill to ban abortion nationwide. A decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Graham’s bill comes at a time when Republican-controlled Congresses across the country are moving to impose draconian abortion bans, forcing pregnant people to flee across state lines in search of care. Some of Graham’s fellow Republicans have distanced themselves from the proposal.

“How would an abortion ban disproportionately affect communities of color that are often marginalized?” U.S. Congressman Shontelle Brown (D-Ohio) asked Frye.

“What we really want is for everyone, especially blacks, browns and people of color, to have access to the healthcare they need,” Frye said. “Abortion bans take decisions out of their hands, making them dependent on a system that has perpetuated inequalities for decades.”

“Who will you be?”

An eyewitness told lawmakers that they were facing an alternative when it comes to abortion rights.

“Who will you be?” Pittsburgh resident Kelsey Lee asked the panel. “Without knowing who is pregnant or what their circumstances are, do we sit in judgment on them? Or do we listen to the kindness our country desperately needs right now?”

Lee, who had an abortion at 20 weeks after an ultrasound determined the fetal condition was “incompatible with life,” now works at the Allegheny Reproductive Health Center in Pittsburgh, where she works with people seeking abortion care. He told lawmakers he was talking. The facility is said to be inundated with calls from people in neighboring Ohio and West Virginia, where abortion is strictly prohibited.

“We’re the closest clinic to 70% of Ohio,” Lehigh told Rep. Law Khanna (D-California). “Two-thirds of the people I talk to every day about him are from Ohio and West Virginia. They organize rides and daycares.”

“Turn back the clock”

In her opening remarks, Committee Chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney (DN. A 158-year-old law banning virtually all abortions.

“Laws were passed over a century ago before women had the right to vote,” Maloney said.

Republicans on House committees have repeatedly accused majority Democrats of using public hearings to vote ahead of the November 8 midterm elections. The bill codified into law repeated the false claim to allow abortion until birth.

“Let’s be clear about today’s hearing — it’s not about defending the best interests of women. This is an effort to establish a system of taxpayer-funded abortions on demand. said U.S. Congressman Fred Keller (Republican). “They do it under the guise of hearings like this to incite fear and achieve the far-left agenda.”

US Congressman Glenn Grossman (Republican-Whiss). The idea that there is a constitutional right to abortion is not true. The time has come for judges to go to law school and find ways to get around the constitution. A bill that recently passed the House would legalize abortion until birth. Other countries forbid it. ”

A PolitiFact analysis in June ruled that claim was “mostly false.”

The bill “allows abortion until delivery only if it is deemed necessary to save the patient’s life. It does not expressly require that you maintain

US Congressman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) listened to the constitutional argument.

“The Supreme Court has ruled. Can you decide? Or is it a personal medical decision that should be left to the woman, her family, her faith, and her doctor?”.

Republican lawmakers also argued by panel witnesses that safe and legal abortion is an important component of self-determination for pregnant people as they try to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. refused.

“This extreme bill, the Women’s Health Protection Act, would put the United States in the company of countries like China and North Korea,” said Rep. Virginia Fox, RN.C. “It is the Democrats who are taking extreme positions on abortion, and they are against the will of most Americans. it is another [thing] To determine the fate of the fetus you carry. ”

Ruskin pays tribute to Pennsylvania

Looking beyond his state borders to Pennsylvania, U.S. Representative Jamie Ruskin (D-Maryland) recently spoke about Pennsylvania’s GOP gubernatorial candidate, Senator Doug Mastriano. mentioned. The ban bill he sponsored should be charged with murder.

“Since the people of Kansas refused to ban abortion, they’ve become a little more reticent and evasive about wanting to ban abortion anywhere in the country.”

“The cat hit the rock, so it looks like it got a tongue, and the rock is the woman who stands up as America’s first-class citizen,” Ruskin said.

Health professionals speaking to a House panel on Thursday were repeatedly questioned by Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Jody Heiss (R-Ga.), about whether abortion care can be classified as health care.

“Abortion is not a health care,” said obstetrician-gynecologist Dr.

Dr. Nisha Verma, Fellow of Physicians for Reproductive Health, countered that Wubbenhorst’s opinion is not the prevailing opinion among obstetricians/gynecologists and their professional organizations.

“The overwhelming consensus is that abortion is absolutely healthcare,” Verma said.