For Immediate Release
April 21, 2015

Contact: Dionne Johnson Calhoun
(202) 724-8105

Grosso: Chaffetz Should Stop Attacking Human Rights

Washington, DC -- Today, Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large) issued the following statement on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s vote to disapprove D.C.’s Reproductive Health Non-discrimination Amendment Act of 2014:

“Coming on the heels of efforts by Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz to bully the Mayor and Council in February, Chaffetz has decided to again attack D.C. self-government. Despite his avowed dedication to limiting the federal government, Chaffetz called for a vote today to overturn a local D.C. law that I proposed last year, the Council passed unanimously, and the Mayor signed.

I call on Congress and the President to reject this inappropriate meddling by Chairman Chaffetz in D.C. affairs. Surely the Congressman’s constituents in Utah would prefer that he focus on their concerns, and not on waging ideological battle against D.C. residents. Interestingly, Utah recently enacted a new law to provide limited non-discrimination protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in that state. If Chaffetz is so concerned about protecting people’s right to discriminate, perhaps he should seek to overturn that law, in his state, and leave D.C. alone.

As I have said before, in D.C. we stand for the human rights of everyone, including reproductive rights. There is no human right to discriminate. Chairman Chaffetz should stop worrying about the Reproductive Health Non-discrimination Amendment Act and focus on the very real problems facing Congress.”

The Reproduction Health Non-Discrimination Act of 2014 amends the D.C. Human Rights Act of 1977 to ensure that individuals are protected from discrimination by an employer or employment agency based on an individual’s or dependent’s reproductive health decision making, including a decision to use or access a particular drug, device, or medical services, on the basis of an employer’s personal beliefs about such services.

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