Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Ilyse Hogue

PHILADELPHIA, July 27, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- I am a 4^th generation Texan.  

Texas women are tough. We approach challenges with clear eyes and full hearts. To succeed in life, all we need are the tools, the trust, and the chance to chart our own path. I was fortunate enough to have these things when I found out I was pregnant years ago. I wanted a family, but it was the wrong time. I made the decision that was best for me – to have an abortion – and was able to get compassionate care at a clinic in my own community. Now, years later, my husband and I are parents to two incredible children.

My story is not unique. About one in three American women have abortions by the age of 45, and the majority are mothers just trying to take care of the families they already have. You see, it's not as simple as bad girls get abortions and good girls have families. We are the same women at different times in our lives – each making decisions that are the best for us.

If we want families to succeed, we start by empowering women. Give us accurate information and access to health care. Keep politicians out of our business when we're not ready to parent, and support us when we are. That's what gives our families the best chance to get ahead and stay ahead. And that is what Hillary Clinton has spent decades fighting for.

Donald Trump is different. He said women who have abortions should be punished. He calls women "pigs" and says breastfeeding is "disgusting."

Now some people think he doesn't really mean any of that. But, look who he picked for VP.

Mike Pence led the charge to defund Planned Parenthood, pushed to let hospitals turn a woman away if she needs an abortion to save her life, and signed a bill with some of the most outrageous abortion restrictions in the country. He has even said he can't wait to send Roe v. Wade "into the ash heap of history." Together, Donald Trump and Mike Pence have united to form the "make misogyny great again" ticket.

And the people who so loudly oppose abortion rights? Let me let you in on their dirty little secret: They're not only against abortions. Many of these people are also fighting to restrict access to contraception and block commonsense policies to support working moms.

It's not abortion that bothers them. It's empowering women to live our own lives. When we have power over our own destiny, we not only strengthen our families, we honor our most cherished traditions of liberty and equality.

These aren't just "women's issues" – these are the very foundation of our freedom.

We need a president who has the experience, the wisdom, and the grit to stand up against the bullies. We need a president who knows that "women's rights are human rights." We need a president who will keep expanding the frontiers of freedom for all Americans.

We need Hillary Clinton.

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SOURCE 2016 Democratic National Convention Committee

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