Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick speaking.
In a national cable news interview, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick said Wednesday that he doesn’t feel it is the right move for Republicans to advance restrictive abortion bills.
The GOP congressman from Middletown Township told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell most people believe in legal abortion with some restrictions.
“Our policies are to reflect the will of the people in America. I don’t think it’s wise to be going down this path,” Fitzpatrick said on proposals for more restrictive abortion laws.
Fitzpatrick agreed with comments made by Congresswoman Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina. She called on pumping the brakes on her peers keen on introducing strict new federal abortion laws in the wake of the overturning on Roe v. Wade.
“This is an issue that I want to see us take seriously and if we’re going to be serious about balancing the rights of women and protecting the right to life, I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive, this is probably not the way to start off the week,” Mace said in an MSNBC interview earlier Wednesday. “We should be looking at measures, for example, making sure every woman has access to birth control. If you really want to get serious about this issue and reduce unwanted pregnancies, well I’ve got entire counties in South Carolina that don’t have a single OBGYN doctor. Those are the issues that we really need to be talking about.”
Fitzpatrick, a co-chairperson of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, told the MSNBC host he had spoken with Mace, adding a group of GOP lawmakers are working together to halt “any kind of extreme legislation.”
The congressman has been denounced by pro-choice advocates for his 2021 vote against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which was created to lift restrictions on access to abortion. The bill passed in the U.S. House, but it failed in the U.S. Senate.
In 2022, Fitzpatrick was rated as having an 80 percent approval rating on his positions by the National Right to Life Committee and 60 percent by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
Democrats centered much of their 2022 campaign against Fitzpatrick around abortion and framing him as being against abortion. He won the election easily.
In a statement posted on his official website last year, Fitzpatrick stated he has supported the framework for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would, in most cases, ban abortion after a fetus reaches 20 weeks. The bill has been criticized by some anti-abortion advocates for allowing abortion.
Fitzpatrick voted on Wednesday on a bill that would make sure infants born after attempted abortions are provided medical care, with fines and jail time as a penalty. The bill passed the House 220-210.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), infants born alive after an attempted abortion is very rare.
CNN reported opponents to the bill make the case the proposed law would threaten health care providers who provide abortions. The article notes that intentionally killing an infant born alive is already a crime.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Wednesday called out Fitzpatrick and said he supports a Republican “anti-choice agenda.”
“Brian Fitzpatrick and the Republican party’s despicable commitment to ripping away reproductive freedom is heard loud and clear. With every extreme vote against protecting and further restricting abortion rights, Fitzpatrick is building the case against himself for 2024,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Tommy Garcia said.
Also this week, Fitzpatrick, a former FBI special agent, voted to create a committee to look at what Republicans call a “weaponization” of federal government.
See also:
Congressman Fitzpatrick Played Key Role in Making Kevin McCarthy Speaker
Fitzpatrick Announces Grant for Perseverance Fire Company in Souderton
Congressman Fitzpatrick Casts Vote Against Democrat’s Inflation Reduction Act
Congressman Fitzpatrick, Former FBI Agent, Comments on Search Warrant at President Trump’s Residence
Congressman Fitzpatrick Votes on Assault Weapons Ban, Chip Manufacturing & Research Legislation
