Press Release

Congressman Ami Bera, M.D. today fought against a radical assault on women's access to health care and voted against the so-called Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 36)– a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks and not allow any real exceptions to protect women's health.

"When I became a doctor, I took an oath to provide my patients with the best options available to them and to explain the risks and benefits of these choices," said Bera " Women should be free to make the health care decisions that are best for them, and doctors should not be threatened with jail time for doing what's in the best interest of their patients. This bill is just another extreme attempt of politicians trying to insert themselves into the exam room where they don't belong."

Watch Bera's speech on the bill.

H.R. 36 makes it more difficult for women to get the health care they need, even in the cases of rape and incest, and interferes in the doctor patient relationship by placing criminal penalties on physicians providing life-saving care for their patients. According to Planned Parenthood, Nearly 99 percent of abortions occur before 21 weeks, but when they are needed later in pregnancy, it's often because of a serious medical issue when a woman and her doctor need every medical option available.

Bera has represented Sacramento County in Congress since 2013. Born and raised in California, he is a physician and the only Indian American currently serving in Congress. He's fighting to rebuild an economy that works for middle class families and to reduce our country's debt in a responsible way. One of Bera's first acts in Congress was to help lead the effort to pass the No Budget No Pay Act, which says if members of Congress don't pass a budget, they don't get paid. As a leader of the No Labels' Problem Solvers, he's working with people from both parties to find bipartisan solutions to our nation's challenges. He and his wife Janine live in Elk Grove with their daughter Sydra. For more updates on Rep. Bera follow @RepBera on Twitter, like Congressman Bera on Facebook, or visit https://www.bera.house.gov.