Washington D.C. (July 12, 2023)—On Monday, July 17, 2023, at 4:15 p.m. ET, Rep. Cori Bush, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, will host a roundtable with advocates, experts and providers to examine the consequences of continued attempts to restrict abortion access, including in states where abortion is legal, as part of Republican efforts to impose a national abortion ban.

“Medication abortion accounts for over half of all abortion care in the United States and is used every hour of every day all around the world,” said Rep. Cori Bush.  “Medication abortion—particularly Mifepristone—is not dangerous, but you know what is?  Forcing people, disproportionately Black and brown folks, to give birth in our country where childbirth can be deadly, where people are routinely denied health care, and where housing costs and child care are regularly out of reach.  It’s both dangerous and inhumane.  I am proud to stand with Ranking Member Raskin and my Oversight colleagues to host this roundtable to publicly and proudly defend access to medication abortion.  My hope is that this hearing serves as a message to the public that we are not backing down and to Republicans that we are not giving up.”

“Districts like mine in North Texas are at the heart of America’s self-inflicted maternal mortality crisis.  The majority of my constituents are Black and Brown, working- and middle-class, and hundreds of miles away from states where life-saving abortion care is legal.  I am grateful Ranking Member Raskin and my colleagues for participating in this roundtable.  This is an important opportunity to hear from and speak with people like those I represent, living in states where women are forced to choose between obeying the law or saving their own life.  The horrifying stories of Texan women in medical crisis turned away from hospitals and forced to miscarry at home have shone a light on the real impacts of these cruel, medically baseless, and morally reprehensible laws.  I am grateful for the opportunity to highlight their experiences alongside the testimonies of patients and providers around the country,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

“This roundtable gives voice to the victims of the GOP’s post-Dobbs clampdown across America on reproductive health services and reproductive rights.  As patients who have obtained abortion services in the past and a provider who is currently providing abortion care, panelists will share their personal, medical, professional, and family experiences with criminal anti-abortion laws and the new state-by-state machinery of anti-woman oppression,” said Ranking Member Jamie Raskin.

Members and panelists will share their personal experiences and discuss how the GOP’s effort to pursue nationwide abortion restrictions affects the health and fundamental rights of every person across the country, regardless of whether they live in a blue state or red state.  These efforts include attacks on medication abortion, such as ongoing litigation in the 5th Circuit, which are part of a longstanding GOP effort to ban abortion nationwide.  Medication abortion accounts for more than half of abortions in the United States.  The litigation in the 5th Circuit threatens to revoke FDA-approval for mifepristone, one of two medications used to end a pregnancy.  More than 5 million women have safely used mifepristone since it received FDA approval in 2000.

This roundtable builds on Committee Democrats’ work last Congress to address the impact of Republican-led abortion bans and restrictions that took effect in dozens of states following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and ongoing Republican efforts to ban or restrict abortion in every state.

MEDIA:

Seating in the CVC is limited and as a result, credentialed media must RSVP to the Oversight Committee Democrats Press Office at OversightPress@mail.house.gov no later than 1 p.m. ET on July 17, 2022. 

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