Lawmaker’s Miscarriage Gets Bipartisan Backing for Pain Study

After weeks of bleeding from a lost pregnancy, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) took medication Sunday to help with her miscarriage—and felt severe pain.

“I was not even advised to take this medication when my son was out of the house. He saw and heard things that he should never have had to,” she told her colleagues in an impassioned speech before the House Appropriations Committee Tuesday night.

She was appealing to colleagues to support her amendment as they considered the Health and Human Services Department budget.

“The status quo of women’s pain treatment, especially when it concerns reproductive health, in this country is medieval,” Gluesenkamp Perez added.

The Washington Democrat said she lost her pregnancy at 11 weeks, and her doctor said future pregnancies could be difficult if she did not take the medication to expel the retained miscarriage. Gluesenkamp Perez did not disclose which medication she took, but some medications use for miscarriage treatment have been attacked by anti-abortion advocates because they can also be used to terminate pregnancies.

Gluesenkamp Perez’s proposal would require the National Institutes of Health to study pain management strategies in miscarriages. The committee approved the measure quickly through a voice vote.

Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), thanked the congresswoman for the amendment, marking a rare occurrence of bipartisanship on reproductive health, and indicated she worked with Republicans on the policy.

“Congresswoman Perez shared her difficult experience and asked me to work with her,” said Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.V.) in a statement. “We need to be there for women who are struggling with difficult pregnancies and managing the pain they experience following a miscarriage. I’m grateful the committee adopted this amendment.”

Democrats were overall critical of the HHS funding bill for its proposed cuts to the agency. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) blasted the bill in her opening remarks for cutting family planning funding and eliminating a teen pregnancy prevention program.