| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 17, 2019 |
CONTACT: Mallory Quigley [email protected], 202-223-8073 |
Washington, D.C. – Today the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) issued the following statement ahead of the U.S. House of Representatives vote on H.R. 5:
“The egregiously misnamed ‘Equality Act’ is the latest back-door effort by extremists to expand abortion on demand through birth, funded with taxpayer dollars,” said former Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave, SBA List’s Vice President of Government Affairs. “The bill’s definition of sex discrimination has already been interpreted by courts to put abortion in the same category as pregnancy and childbirth. As written, it could roll back decades of pro-life policy on the state and federal level, as well as forcing health care workers and entities to participate in abortion. Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats could have addressed those concerns by including Congresswoman Debbie Lesko’s amendment to make this bill abortion-neutral, but they refused, showing their hand. We urge the House to reject this latest attempt by Democrats to wipe out pro-life laws and force taxpayers to pay for abortion on demand.”
Earlier this week SBA List sent a letter to members of Congress opposing H.R. 5 and indicating its intent to score the vote.
As the letter explains, H.R. 5 amends the Civil Rights Act by adding “pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition” to the definition of “sex,” which courts have interpreted broadly to include abortion. In Doe v. C.A.R.S., the Third Circuit ruling specifically states, “We now hold that the term ‘related medical condition’ includes an abortion.” In addition, H.R. 5 adds any “establishment that provides health care” to the list of entities that must meet the public accommodation requirements of the Civil Rights Act and stipulates that any attempt to withhold such services constitutes discrimination, while explicitly blocking existing avenues for conscientious objection claims under federal law.
SBA List is a network of more than 700,000 pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders.
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