Today, U.S. Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52) released the following statement after opposing H.R. 3762, which would strip away health care, including access to affordable birth control, from millions of Americans:

“This legislation would rip health care away from 22 million Americans, and deny affordable reproductive care to millions of women. At a time when so many hard-working Americans still struggle to make ends meet, pay off their mortgages, or send their kids to college, the last thing Congress should do is take away their health care. Sending us back to a time when Americans with preexisting conditions can be denied health insurance, forcing them to turn to emergency rooms care coverage entirely, is not the way to make health care work.

“Defunding Planned Parenthood is not only bad public health policy, it’s also bad fiscal policy; the majority of the services they provide -- contraception, cancer screenings, pap tests, and HIV and AIDS testing – are preventative care that save on health care costs in the long run. Anyone who would support defunding preventative care for millions of American women and men for political gain is not doing what’s in the best interest of the people they represent.”