Am I missing something, Cathy?

Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ February 11 memo to constituents described The Women’s Health Protection Act of 2019 as “a pro-abortion bill that would force health care providers to perform abortions on demand at nearly any stage of a pregnancy.” A careful reading of H.B. 2975 and S.B.1645 finds no section of the bill mentioning forcing health care providers to perform abortions, ever. Was this statement a mistake on her part?

Was I missing something? I messaged Ms. Rodgers asking her to point out the passage that she referred to. I also called her offices in Colville and Washington, D.C., making it clear that I was very disturbed that it appeared we were being lied to by Mrs. Rodgers about this very important bill and expected to get some explanation from her.

The response I received was no more than a boilerplate statement on Ms. Rodgers’ views about abortion and why she does not support this bill. Nothing about my concern that she appeared to be lying about the bill’s intent in her memo to constituents or why she included the statement about forcing practitioners to provide abortions.

I am deeply concerned that my congresswoman is willing to lie about legislation to justify positions she takes on legislation to her constituents. Is this the new Republican playbook, to follow the example of the president and misrepresent facts to suit the moment? What else has McMorris Rodgers lied to us about that affects our district?

Laurel Scott

Curlew, Wash.