House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday evening the bans on abortion that have passed in many states “ignore basic morality.”
“Today, as we know, an all-out assault on women’s reproductive freedoms is sweeping the nation, as Republicans seek to impose abortion bans on millions of women in dozens of states,” Pelosi said as she addressed attendees at the 50th anniversary dinner of abortion political action and advocacy organization NARAL.
The speaker, a professed Catholic, added:
These bans violate the Constitution. They ignore basic morality. They imperil the health and well-being of countless women. And they showcase a radical Republican agenda that will stop at nothing to take away a woman’s right to make her own decisions upon her – about her health, her body, and the timing and size of her family.
.@SpeakerPelosi: “We fight to build a better future for all women and families…Every woman, everywhere, has the constitutional right to reproductive healthcare. We have won in the court of public opinion, and now we must continue to win in the court of law.” #NARAL50 pic.twitter.com/oooKAV3teP
— NARAL (@NARAL) September 26, 2019
Failed 2016 Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton received NARAL’s lifetime achievement award and spoke at the anniversary dinner.
The former secretary of state criticized Republicans and the Trump administration.
“They are making it harder to avoid an unintended pregnancy, making it harder to end an unintended pregnancy, and making it harder to be supported when you become a mother,” Clinton said, according to NARAL. “We must support the right to choose whether or when to become mothers.”
I was honored to close out @NARAL’s 50th anniversary celebration last night. The work to defend reproductive rights is more urgent now than ever.https://t.co/hus6czB7wx
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 27, 2019
Pelosi also took the opportunity to address her decision to launch a formal impeachment effort against President Donald Trump following a whistleblower complaint alleging he urged Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.
She said this is “a very sad time for our country,” adding she says this “with great sorrow and prayerfulness.”
“I never thought that we would see a president take the actions that he has,” the Speaker said. “In fact, I don’t think our Founders ever thought a president would do such a thing. And they built great guardrails into our Constitution to make sure that anyone who attempted to do so, saw the boundaries. But, that has not held this president back.”
