Price’s extreme anti-choice record makes him unfit to serve as HHS Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2017

Today, the U.S. Senate will begin confirmation hearings for Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), who has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue issued the following statement in response:

“Rep. Price’s extreme anti-choice record uniquely disqualifies him from leading our nation’s top health department. In Congress, Rep. Price has turned his back on the seven in 10 Americans who believe abortion should be legal and accessible by cosponsoring some of the most anti-choice legislation on record.

“Rep. Price has made it clear that he has no empathy for or understanding of the experiences of everyday Americans trying to access basic reproductive health care like birth control and abortion. He has tried again and again to undermine the health, economic security, freedom, and equality of Americans, and women in particular, by restricting access to birth control and pursuing outright bans on abortion. If confirmed as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, he would actively undermine our health and wellbeing in the service of his out-of-touch and unpopular agenda.”

When asked about contraceptive coverage in the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Price refused to acknowledge that people across the country struggled to afford birth control before the health care law came into effect, demanding, “Bring me one woman who has been left behind. Bring me one. There’s not one.”

During his 12 years in Congress, Rep. Price has not cast a single pro-choice vote. Instead, Rep. Price has:

• Cosponsored legislation that would, if it went into effect, make abortion illegal nationwide in almost all cases and ban some of the most common forms of contraception, stem-cell research, and in vitro fertilization [1]
• Repeatedly voted to defund Planned Parenthood and its affiliates that, in addition to a full menu of reproductive-health services, provide abortion-related care [2]
• Supported creation of a congressional panel to lead a partisan, taxpayer-funded smear campaign against Planned Parenthood; this committee targeted students, researchers, and health-care providers in a way that puts them at risk of violence and harassment [3]
• Led the anti-choice GOP’s efforts to deny millions of Americans access to health care by dismantling the Affordable Care Act

To read the full profile on Rep. Price’s anti-choice record, click here.

[1] H.R.552, 2/2/05.

[2] Pence Amendment to FY’08 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, H.R.3043, 7/19/07; Pence Amendment to FY’10 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, H.R.3293, 7/24/09; Pence Amendment to FY’11 Continuing Resolution, H.R.1, 2/18/11; H.R.1, 2/19/11; Enrollment Resolution 11 to H.Con.Res.36, 4/14/11; H.R.3134, 9/18/15; H.R.3495, 9/29/15; H.Con.Res.79, 9/30/15; H.R.3762, 10/23/15.

[3] H.Res.461, 10/7/15.

NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all Americans. NARAL works to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”

###