ICYMI: Murray, Baldwin, Schumer, Blumenthal Lead 45 Senators in Introducing Women’s Health Protection Act to Restore and Protect Americans’ Right to an Abortion Nationwide – MORE HERE
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s Floor Speech Reintroducing the Women’s Health Protection Act HERE***
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) took to the Senate floor to underscore the urgent need to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, which she just reintroduced with her colleagues. The legislation guarantees access to abortion in every state and restores the right to comprehensive reproductive health care for millions of Americans.
In her remarks on the floor, Senator Murray shined a spotlight on the devastating health crisis Republicans have ushered in after overturning Roe—calling out how their extreme bans, restrictions, and threats are hurting patients, providers, and families all across the country. She noted that, far from listening to the American people, Republicans are continuing their nonstop attacks—and made clear the urgent need to restore every woman’s right to control her own body.
“Ever since Republicans succeeded in their decades-long effort to overturn Roe v. Wade, drag our country back half a century, and rip away the right to abortion from women across the country, we’ve heard one horror story after another: women left suffering, waiting for care they need. Doctors worried they could face jail time for doing what’s best for their patients. Abortion providers overwhelmed by patients who are having to wait weeks for limited appointments and travel hundreds of miles for care,” said Senator Murray. “Republicans have ushered in a crisis—a nightmare for women, for patients, and for doctors alike. And make no mistake: it is a choice extreme Republicans have made.”
In particular, Senator Murray talked about how Republicans’ extreme policies have denied patients from being able to simply get the care they need—robbing over 20 million women of reproductive age of the ability to get abortion care in their own state and tripling the average travel time to get abortion care.
“Republicans’ bans have tripled the average travel time for patients to get the abortion care they need since Roe was overturned,” said Senator Murray. “And they have been especially challenging for communities that already face barriers to the care they need— patients with tight budgets who can’t afford to pay for travel and lodging hundreds of miles away, Black women who already suffer much higher maternal mortality rates, patients in rural and Tribal areas who weren’t close to providers to begin with, and patients with disabilities—to name just a few.”
“People across the country have already made it crystal clear they will not stand for Republicans’ extreme agenda. In fact, last November, abortion rights won in every single place they were on the ballot. And M. President—Democrats won’t stand for Republicans’ attacks either,” Senator Murray continued. “We refuse to accept a future where our daughters and granddaughters have fewer rights than we did. We refuse to accept that any patient’s right to control their own body depends on the state they live in—or the money in their bank account. That is why, today, Democrats are reintroducing the Women’s Health Protection Act—because the Dobbs decision was not the beginning of this fight—and it was not the end—far from it.”
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Senator Murray has led the fight in Congress to fight back and protect Americans’ fundamental rights. At a hearing she chaired right in the immediate aftermath of the Dobbs decision, Senator Murray warned of the chaos, confusion, and harm the decision and Republicans’ extreme policies would cause—including by jeopardizing Americans’ access to IVF. And in the months that followed, Senator Murray has introduced and fought to pass commonsense legislation to protect the right to contraception, protect every American’s right to travel for abortion care, protect doctors’ right to provide legal abortion care, expand our national family planning program, and protect the right to build a family through assisted reproductive technology. She led her colleagues at the very outset of this Congress to make crystal clear that Senate Democrats are continuing to fight to protect every American’s reproductive rights and will be a firewall against House Republicans’ continued attacks on our rights—and that’s exactly what she’s doing now.
Senator Murray’s full remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below
“Thank you, M. President.
“I rise to continue the fight for women in every part of our country to once again be able to make their own health care decisions. Because ever since Republicans succeeded in their decades-long effort to overturn Roe v. Wade, drag our country back half a century, and rip away the right to abortion from women across the country, we’ve heard one horror story after another.
“Women left suffering, waiting for care they need. Doctors worried they could face jail time for doing what’s best for their patients. Abortion providers overwhelmed by patients who are having to wait weeks for limited appointments and travel hundreds of miles for care.
“Republicans have ushered in a crisis—a nightmare for women, for patients, and for doctors alike. And make no mistake: it is a choice extreme Republicans have made.
“They fought for decades to overturn Roe. They passed the dangerous abortion bans that are causing this pain for women and families. And they are choosing to continue their nonstop efforts to strip women of control over their own bodies.
“Every day, Republican politicians come out with some new, awful idea to make women’s lives worse. Here in Congress, Senate Republicans introduced a national abortion ban last year. And this Congress, one of the first bills the Republican House voted on was a federal abortion ban.
“In just a few months since Roe was overturned, extreme abortion bans have gone into effect in 14 states, stripping over 20 million women of reproductive age of the ability to get abortion care in their own states.
“And by the way, transgender and nonbinary patients—who already face too many challenges getting the health care they need in this country—are being harmed by these bans, too.
“We are talking about truly cruel bans that set bounties for information about anyone that gets an abortion or helps provide one, and bans that even lack exceptions for rape, incest, and the life and well-being of moms.
“Republicans’ bans have tripled the average travel time for patients to get the abortion care they need since Roe was overturned. And they have been especially challenging for communities that already face barriers to the care they need— patients with tight budgets who can’t afford to pay for travel and lodging hundreds of miles away, Black women who already suffer much higher maternal mortality rates, patients in rural and Tribal areas who weren’t close to providers to begin with, and patients with disabilities—to name just a few.
“And Republicans are going further, seeking to pass new bans to try and get around state courts rulings, and laws to get around the fact their own constituents backed the right to abortion in statewide votes last year.
“And when Republicans can’t convince the American people to get on board with their extreme agenda they’ve shown they’ll try to force it on women across the country with threats, intimidation, and outrageous lawsuits.
“Extreme Republican Attorneys General, for example, are suing the Biden Administration because it told pharmacists they can’t discriminate against pregnant patients and because it made clear when a woman’s life is at stake doctors are required to provide lifesaving abortion care.
“And, of course, there is the extreme Republican lawsuit that seeks to take away an important abortion medication for patients nationwide, effectively creating a nationwide ban on the most common way patients get an abortion.
“22 Republican Attorneys General, and 67 Republicans right here in Congress have filed a brief supporting that lawsuit—supporting overriding experts at the FDA to take a safe, effective abortion medication away from women nationwide—to take it away from my constituents in Washington state.
“M. President, people across the country have already made it crystal clear they will not stand for Republicans’ extreme agenda.
“In fact, last November, abortion rights won in every single place they were on the ballot.
“And M. President—Democrats won’t stand for Republicans’ attacks either.
“We are committed to being a firewall here in the Senate against House Republicans’ extreme attacks on abortion.
“We refuse to accept a future where our daughters and granddaughters have fewer rights than we did.
“We refuse to accept that any patient’s right to control their own body depends on the state they live in—or the money in their bank account.
“That is why, today, Democrats are reintroducing the Women’s Health Protection Act.
“Because the Dobbs decision was not the beginning of this fight—and it was not the end—far from it.
“We have to restore Roe for women in every corner of our country. And that’s exactly what this bill does.
“It follows the Constitution and nearly half a century of precedent and gives patients the right to get an abortion, and doctors the right to provide abortion care no matter where they are in America.
“Some Republicans want us to get used to women being forced to stay pregnant—no matter their circumstances, no matter what it means for their health, their family, or their hopes for the future.
“Some Republicans are hoping this will all become ‘normal.’
“Well, I’ve got one word for them: Never. We won’t be quiet, and we won’t give up.
“We are going to keep coming back, as many times as it takes, to end this chaos and return control of women’s bodies to women.
“And I promise, every single time we have to come back to this floor to lay bare the horrors extreme abortion bans are inflicting on women and patients in this country. We are going to keep getting louder.
“So, I urge all of my Republican colleagues: start listeningto the American people. Start acknowledgingthe pain these abortion bans are causing. And let us pass this critical bill to make things right.
“I can’t say I expect them to listen today—but I can guarantee you if they don’t, we will be back.
“Thank you.”
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