Reproductive Choice

Women’s reproductive rights are under assault. In Congress, the leadership in both Chambers have Roe v. Wade in their sights, and the chipping away has already begun. Decisions that should be made between consenting adults or in a doctor’s office are now being made on the floors of the House and Senate.

	Fighting for Choice - October 2, 2002
	Fighting for Choice - July 24, 2002

Roe marked a cornerstone of equality and freedom for which American women had fought for generations. The Supreme Court’s decision empowered women to make their own choices about their reproductive health and protected them from unwarranted government intrusion into their personal, private decisions.

Jane Harman knows firsthand how hard it was to secure the right to choose for women. As a young attorney, she litigated cases defending a woman’s fitness to be a mother before Roe v. Wade was ever decided. Since coming to Congress in 1992, she has voted against every attempt to roll back rights guaranteed under Roe.

Harman has led the fight to give military women the right to pay for abortions in military hospitals, and to include reproductive health services in federal employees’ health insurance plans. She has also served on the board of Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles, all in an attempt to keep secure the right of a woman to make her own choices about her reproductive health.

	Women in the Military
	Protecting Choice in Family Planning

But, now – with an increasingly hostile Congress and a Supreme Court that hangs in the balance – women are closer than ever before to losing that right. Anti-choice advocates control the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives and have indicated they intend to launch a legislative assault on Roe. President Bush has tried to nominate anti-choice justices to all branches of the judiciary. And, the retirement of just one Supreme Court justice could tip the court from pro-choice to anti-choice – from protecting women’s health to endangering it.

Harman believes the first priority in defending women’s reproductive rights should be improving access to information and contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Abortion must never be a first choice: prevention is a much better option. During her tenure in Congress, Jane Harman have taken the following actions to protect women's reproductive rights:

• Introduced HR 3581, the Preventing Teen Pregnancy Act, which would provide federal funds for teen pregnancy prevention programs that have proven effective, including comprehensive sex education.
• Led efforts in the House of Representatives to restore the right of women in the military to pay for an abortion in a military hospital when stationed overseas.
• Cosponsored HR 1111, the Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act, which requires health plans to provide equitable coverage of prescription contraception.
• Voted to expand funding for family planning services worldwide.
• Opposed HR 503, "Unborn Victims of Violence Act," a bill that would keep young women from seeking help from a close family member when she has to make a decision about an unplanned pregnancy.
• Opposed H.R. 4965, the so-called Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, which would ban some of the most commonly used medical procedures for abortion in the second trimester.

Jane Harman will continue to represent the views of the majority of women – and all Americans – that a woman should have the right to choose whether or not to have a child.
Harman’s record has earned her the support of:

• National Abortion Rights Action League
• National Women's Political Committee
• National Organization for Women Political Action Committee
• Planned Parenthood
• Emily's List
• Voters for Choice
• California Abortion Rights Action League