Members of the Congressional Democratic Women’s Caucus wore all white on Wednesday to show solidarity with Republicans and their efforts to destroy abortion access now that they have control of the House.
The caucus, led by Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), described the action as a way to show “our collective opposition to the extreme Republican MAGA anti-abortion agenda.”
Wearing all white, as congresswomen did during Donald Trump’s 2019 State of the Union address, was the norm of the women’s suffrage movement in the early 1900s, when women fighting for the right to vote assembled in white — a thoughtful fashion statement. so inconspicuous in one person but powerful in mass.
Congresswomen gathered in white Wednesday as the GOP-led House passed two bills sympathetic to the anti-abortion movement: the condemnation of attacks on anti-abortion groups and the requirement that health workers provide care to save babies in the rare instance of one. survived an attempted abortion. Although it is not expected to go up for a vote in the Senate, which the Democrats still control.
Critics question why House conservatives won’t offer protections to abortion providers, who are the target of right-wing violence. He also noted that protections for surviving babies from abortion are in place.
Frankel rejected GOP priorities Wednesday, tweet that “while Republicans focus on criminalizing abortion and letting the rich tax cheat off the hook, Democrats are here to lower costs, create higher-paying jobs, and make our communities safer.”
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) was among those wearing white. She spoke before the chamber Wednesday about her traumatic experience of being forced to perform and give birth to a stillborn fetus before Roe v. Wade.
“I had to learn how, first of all, to deal with the great grief of losing a child and the fact that the corpse of a child is still with me,” he recalled. “I cry every night and every day. My little body hurts from pain, sweat and weakness.”
Wilson said she “almost died” and noted that the fetal flesh she was forced to carry had entered her bloodstream, causing her to suffer from toxic shock syndrome.
Wednesday’s bill could be a small taste of what’s to come. Anti-abortion groups are pushing the House GOP to pass a nationwide ban on abortion, including a ban on the procedure at about six weeks into pregnancy and a ban on abortion after a fetus receives a diagnosis of Down syndrome. Other proposals include a ban on prescribing abortion pills via telemedicine and defunding Planned Parenthood.