 Good morning. First of all, I want to thank so many members of the Vermont General Assembly for turning out. I feel like, and folks who are supporting Planned Parenthood, I feel like we've got reinforcements. Things aren't going smooth in Washington. That's news. It's a news flash. And, you know, I'm really speaking to you. I'm really speaking to you right now. You know, Washington's got to find its way back. It's very difficult, very dangerous times. I mean, the guardrails of democracy are really what are being challenged. In the good work, in the good leadership that's going to get us through, where we remember the politics is about building community, making people strong, acknowledging the importance of each of us helping the other person. That works being done right here in Montpelier. And as an observer from Washington and from Norwich, where I live here in Vermont, I want to say thank you very much to the legislators, senators, and reps, who I think did a great job. And I really want to thank the folks who've been supporting Planned Parenthood for so long. It really, really matters what you do. And however discouraging it may be when you get up and read the latest news, you know, last week it was North Korea, now it's Iran. Justice Kavanaugh will talk a little bit about him. It's really important that you continue to advocate, because at the end of the day, all those women who need access to really important health care, including family planning counseling, depend on you. So that's important. We're here today to object to two things. One is the proposal by the Trump administration basically to eliminate Title X funding. Put that in English. That's the federal money that comes back to the states to help family planning counseling, especially for lower income women. And why in the world would the Trump administration be challenging family planning services? There's no reason for that. We're talking about letting people know what their options are so they can make wise decisions. And the funding, about $750,000 that comes to Planned Parenthood, serves about 9,000 low income women. And why shouldn't those low income women who have real challenges in life have access to good health care, good counseling services, good information so that they can make wise decisions. Secondly, the impact on this would also dramatically reduce access to Medicaid. Medicaid is the health care program that helps low income for monitors. And our General Assembly, with our governor, the governors of both parties, has always been supportive of an expansion of Medicaid, understanding that having access to health care is really essential to the long-term well-being, not only of the women who get health care through Medicaid, but their kids. And that is a good, solid investment. And it's mystifying to me that the Trump administration would challenge a program that is working so well and costing so little. But what we're seeing is a pattern in Washington of the Trump administration of real attack on the reproductive freedom of women in this country. It's a cut of title 10 funds, the International Family Planning at the UN, a ban on talking about breastfeeding. I mean, really? It's astonishing. That's very nutritious. It's good for the kids, and especially for low-income women. That makes sense. It's good health. And what's the President got against that? The global gag rule that the administration is appointing, eliminating U.S. funding to, pardon me, the UN population fund. In many appointments that have jeopardized women's health, not to mention the effort, fortunately, that failed, to repeal the Affordable Care Act altogether and take away health care from 24 million Americans. And I want to pause there for a minute. They really tried to do that. I was on the committee. We showed up at 10 a.m., locked the doors. They passed the bill out. There had been no committee hearings whatsoever. We were there for 27 hours, voted on long party lines to repeal it, got stopped as we went along. But they really did that. No hearings written in secret in the Speaker's Office. A week later, when the Congressional Budget Office finally was able to do the math, 24 million Americans were going to lose their health care if that bill passed. So this is all of a piece. And what we're here to say is non-acceptable, that access to health care is absolutely essential in taking away access that women need to reproductive medical care and counseling is totally unacceptable. A second thing is we've got to acknowledge that the appointment of Justice Kavanaugh, potentially to the Supreme Court, puts Roe v. Wade in jeopardy. And that is a very, very serious concern. And whether something happens at the federal level, it's accelerating the tendency in some states to take very strong actions that completely hobble the ability of a woman to make her own choices about reproductive freedom. So this is a very serious situation. The advocacy of people in their communities, the advocacy of our state legislators, senators and representatives standing up for what has been a long-term bipartisan commitment in this state. Republicans and Democrats, through the decades that I've been here, have said women have a right to choose. And we together are standing to say we'll defend that right. So I thank you all for coming, and I now would like to turn this over to Lucy Larish, my former colleague in the State House, and now Vice President for Public Policy at Planned Parenthood, Lucy. Thank you so much, Congressman Welch, for being a champion of access to high-quality health care for all Vermonters and for your support of patients who visit Planned Parenthood. Good morning, everyone. My name is Lucy Larish, and I'm the Vice President of Public Policy with the Planned Parenthood, Vermont Action Fund, the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. I'd like to take a moment to thank Congressman Welch for his efforts to fight to ensure that women's health was a priority during the ACA consideration and the Republican repeal effort. He spoke in defense of Planned Parenthood at 2 a.m. as House Energy and Commerce considered the ACA repeal legislation. Congressman Welch co-spondered the Each Woman Act, which would eliminate the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment is the provision that blocks federal dollars from paying for abortion care. And he's fought each year, since Republicans took over in 2010, to ensure that Planned Parenthood remains funded in the annual appropriations battles. Our Congressman, I cannot emphasize this enough, he has credentials a mile long of his voice fighting for women's reproductive health care and for all Vermonters health care. I just want to emphasize that. And for these actions, and many more, Congressman Welch, we're very grateful. We're here, like Congressman Welch, to voice our opposition to President Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The selection of Brett Kavanaugh confirms our worst fears, because Trump promised to appoint justices only if they would overturn Roe B. Webb. If he has confirmed the rights and access we've spent decades fighting for could disappear, even though 70% of Americans support abortion rights. Brett Kavanaugh has a dangerous track record of trying to block women from getting access to birth control and abortion care. Last year, he ruled to block an undocumented woman who entered the United States from obtaining an abortion. He also ruled in favor of bosses denying their employees birth control coverage based on their religious objections. The right to access safe legal abortion is on the line. Stopping Kavanaugh and any anti-reproductive rights nominee from sitting on the Supreme Court is the fight of our lives and will continue to be so in the months and hopefully not but probably years ahead. This fight begins with the United States Senate. In Vermont, Senators Leahy and Sanders support our right to control our bodies. So we're asking Vermonters to urge your friends and family in other states to contact their Senators and demand they reject Kavanaugh's nomination. You can visit PlannedParenthood.org and click Take Action to quickly and easily contact your Senators. The other reason we're here today is because there is a deadline approaching on another matter. July 31st is a deadline for comments from the public about Title X gag rule which would hurt 10,000 Vermonters who access birth control and reproductive preventive health care services from Planned Parenthood. Title X is the only federal program in the country for affordable birth control and reproductive health care. The Title X health centers like ours provide high quality, cost effective health services to low income underinsured and uninsured Vermonters who may otherwise lack access to health care. And to be clear, Title X grant funding does not pay for abortion services. By law, federal money cannot go to pay for abortions. Planned Parenthood is the only Title X provider in Vermont. And last year we served nearly 10,000 Title X patients. Until now, Title X's law has stated health care providers cannot withhold information from patients about pregnancy options. The Trump administration proposed changes to Title X rules that would do three things, mainly. First, it would impose new rules that are designed to make it impossible for Title X patients to get birth control or preventive care from health care providers like Planned Parenthood. Second, health care providers would no longer be able to explicitly refer their Title X patients for abortion. And third, it removes the guarantee that Title X patients receive full and accurate information about their health care from their doctor. President Trump is trying to stop patients from accessing care at Planned Parenthood health centers across the country in here in Vermont by pushing a gag rule that would force providers to reject their medical ethics and withhold vital information from their patients. On behalf of our patients, we will not back down. People have one week left to tell the Trump administration that they demand medically ethical health care and that they won't stand for attacks on access to reproductive and preventive health care. We've made it quick and easy to submit official comments to the Department of Health and Human Services and we urge you to do so by July 31st. People can visit Planned Parenthood's Vermont Action Fund website at PPVTAF.org to submit comments through Planned Parenthood's website. Finally, I'd like to thank Congressman Welch for condemning attacks on the Title X program or for being a champion of reproductive rights and for having us here today. I'd now like to turn it over to Amy Borgman, one of Planned Parenthood's most dedicated and passionate practitioners. Amy, come on up. Thank you, Lucy. My name is Amy Borgman, and for nearly 32 years I have been a physician assistant with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. Our Title X funded health centers provide comprehensive family planning services and preventive health services for men and women, including testing and treatment for STIs, rapid HIV testing, screenings for breast and cervical cancer, birth control of all kinds, and pregnancy testing and referral. Planned Parenthood provides compassionate and non-judgmental care to all of our patients. Without Title X funded family planning services in Vermont, unintended pregnancy and abortion rates would be dramatically higher. In 2018, there is still stigma attached to women who choose to end their pregnancy. Women who have abortions are thought of as bad people or bad mothers. That could not be further from the truth. Women make this very difficult decision carefully and thoughtfully based on the best interest of the family they have or hope to have. Our patients who receive care through the Title X program are already a vulnerable population. I'm very concerned that changes to the rules of the Title X program will actually present a barrier to women seeking to prevent pregnancy. To me, the Title X GAG rule offers no medical benefits to our patients. Since abortion is a legal and safe medical procedure, this restriction carries a judgmental and bullying tone. This proposed rule would harm patients and be unethical for healthcare providers by requiring us to withhold medical information. It should never be allowed to take effect. I'd now like to introduce Carson Woods. Thank you. Thank you Congressman Welch and Lucy and Amy, you guys rock. My name is Carson Woods. As a Planned Parenthood patient, I have many stories that I could tell just to scratch the surface. I am a survivor of assault. I am the daughter of an addict. I came from a home that oftentimes was at risk for food insecurity. I survived a winter in Vermont without heat with my single mother and two other sisters. And despite this, I am also a college graduate. I am employed by a phenomenal organization. They provide me with impeccable health insurance and I have a loving and supportive partner and I also have a plan for my future. This plan is protected by an IUD that I received at the Planned Parenthood Health Center in Burlington nearly two years ago. This IUD was covered by Title X funds. My generation has defined access. We can find the answer to any question in an instant. We can pay our bills just using our face in a couple of minutes and we could even find the love of our lives with a swipe right. Despite all of this power and access at our disposal, I still feel powerless. I still feel threats to accessibility of fundamental health care in a world where we are so connected. It's not a surprise that I feel the fear of the four million Americans that are able to access essential, equitable and life-saving health care through Title X funding. I can't help but lay awake at night and lose myself during the day asking these existential and surreal questions like what will we do if we lose access to Title X funds? Is this the beginning of the end of the ability to make decisions best for our body, for our lives and for our futures? Will this force us to recess to a place of insecurity, a place where doctors are our enemies and not our allies? Title X is not a playground for political warfare. One more time, Title X is not a playground for political warfare. Title X is a matter of equality, access and choice. Many of the recipients of this health care program are in a critically dangerous position to self-advocate. We have to use our privilege as a platform, a platform that is surrounded by a supportive community, supportive local Congress and supportive employers to raise our voices. And we need to mobilize those voices. Our administration will not stop hiding behind their Bibles and their family values, but their perverse obsession with my body makes me wonder what's really at stake. Maybe it's because they are more fearful than I am. Maybe I have more power than they do. Our power is greater than they will ever know. They should be scared because together we will rally, we will rise, we will kick, we will scream and we will win. Title X will not be replaced by unimaginative, unrealistic, unbelievably irresponsible and unethical ideology that when we are fortunate enough to live in a world where science and medicine and choice saves lives. Thank you so much. That was really wonderful. Thank you so much. And I want to know what your plan is. I want to buy into that future. That's fantastic. Any questions? My attorney general's office has created a study to encourage people to leave comments, but when you look at Congress, you know the makeup, you know what happened. Should people feel confident that their efforts to leave comments are way in or even going to matter? Absolutely. You know, there'll be people who don't listen and they won't listen no matter what. But the action of advocacy of you coming up and speaking starts to create a sense of solidarity among all of us. So we know the odds with the Trump administration are always dim. He's not into the listening mode, if you haven't noticed. But the fact is that there's got to be solidarity about the importance of these values that you spoke so eloquently about. So it's an act of advocacy that I think is a little ripple of hope that then becomes a big wave of opportunity. So yes, write in, speak out, come together like we did today. Things are going to change. I mean, there's going to be a moment in this November when people are able to weigh in in the midterm elections and send a signal as to whether they want to continue with the current business as usual. And my expectation is they don't. They want a federal government that's willing to be a partner with local organizations like Planned Parenthood that are doing very important health care work for young women. What do you think the root is of these efforts, whether it's Title X or repealing the Affordable Care Act or other measures that the Trump administration and their allies in Congress have undertaken? What's the root? Well, I think someone mentioned it. This is a big part of the Trump campaign, really an all out assault on women's reproductive freedom. And President Trump has doubled down on that, not just with his attack on the Title X funds, but attack on the Affordable Care Act, cuts in Medicare. The absurdity of objecting to breastfeeding, the gag rule at the UN, I mean, these are neanderthal policies that are embraced by the president, navigated by the president. And they're not popular. They are not popular. The citizens have to speak out as we are here today. Have you seen Vermont? Well, Vermont is speaking out like Vermont does. We're very fortunate in Vermont. When I came to the statehouse in the 80s, we had a Republican majority. But there was a Republican and Democratic consensus about the importance of Planned Parenthood. That was back then. And I remember Barbara Snelling and Dick Snelling, strong proponents of Planned Parenthood. Now there's a Democratic majority, the Republican governor, and we're united in our advocacy for access to health care for Vermont women. And, you know, look at the, this is an incredible vivid example of the good that can happen. I mean, that, you know, most of us couldn't have accomplished what you did. And, you know, more power to you. It's amazing you did. But you also acknowledged that what helped you was access to the services you needed in Planned Parenthood. You know, your strong woman, strong will, overcame really challenging things. But you also got some help. And if that Planned Parenthood wasn't there, it would have been much harder. So, you know, it's that inspiring example that shows why we're all in it together. And, you know, the big challenge for us in this country is to remember that we are all in it together. And that's not the philosophy of the Trump administration. It's more you're on your own. And when we have been successful, it's always because we've chosen cooperation over conflict. We've chosen community over conflict. And we've understood that by working together we can all get ahead. And that's why it's so inspiring to me to see so many Vermonters here today saying we're going to stick with the commitment Vermont has had forever. Forever, really, to reproductive freedom. Thank you. In Congress, I know you've partnered with Lisa Bonner from the past. Where's Lisa Bonner? I mean, the news that organizations are here also cover the Pottsville area. And I recognize that you are our representative. And I appreciate you and I'm not trying to put you on the spot. Except for the fact that we need a cattle prod to get the GOP women in Congress to stand up for us. To stand in solidarity with those who are here. And they're not. And so you're right. And it's on this issue, but it's on many other issues. I mean, when the president is over talking to Putin like their best buddies and he's siding with Russian intelligence instead of our intelligence. When Republicans in Congress, women and men have to make a choice about whether they're going to stand up for basic democratic values or Planned Parenthood. And when they do, but they're fearful, they have a moment of reckoning. Because we need Republicans to start raising questions and objections to some of the most extreme policies of the president. So I think you make a very good point. So how do you join those of us who are going on with Platsburg, with family of Platsburg, to push for them to make them survive? In taking more action, how do you? Well, you do that. Listen, I tell you, when folks talk to their own member of Congress, they listen. So you talk to Elise, talk to others as well. And then I'm down. I'm in Washington. And I do my best. Christo, are you kidding me? What are you saying? Go away. Did you help me out? You know what? I will. I will. We work together on the late. And I'm going to tell her that I'll tell her I spoke to you. And Elise, we got a partner on something else. We partnered on the late. Let's partner on saving title 10. I will do that. I will do that. You know what? Maybe we ought to have all of you sign a little letter to dear Elise partner with Peter on title 10. George, let's do that. That'd be good. And I would deliver that. I appreciate that. Why don't we do that? Oh, I need to deliver it. Okay. Thank you. Thank you all very much. Really appreciate it. Thank you.