Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following Tuesday::
On Day of Action to #StopTheBans, Senator Murray Calls for an End to Efforts to Undermine Women’s Health, Stands Up for Women’s Reproductive Rights
Joined by her Senate
Democratic colleagues, Senator Murray highlighted her strong support for
women’s rights to make their own health care decisions, including their
constitutionally protected right to safe, legal abortion
Democrats in the House and
Senate both introduced resolutions supporting women’s reproductive
health care and opposing Republican effort to turn back the clock on
reproductive rights
Resolution is part of larger
effort as Democrats push back against legislation recently passed in
Georgia, Alabama, and other states to undermine women’s access to
reproductive health care and overturn Roe v. Wade
Resolution caps day of action
on reproductive rights from Senator Murray, including a Senate floor
speech denouncing the abortion bans and remarks in front of hundreds of
women’s rights advocates at the #StoptheBans rally in Washington D.C.
The D.C. #StoptheBans Rally
was one of more than 250 planned gatherings at state capitols and
courthouses in all 50 states today, including rallies in Seattle and
across Washington State
Senator Murray on the Senate floor:
“In a world where women can’t control what happens to their own bodies
they are less able to plan their families and stay financially secure
and independent. That means they are less free and less equal. Well, I’m
not going to stand for that.”
***VIDEO OF SENATOR MURRAY’S FLOOR REMARKS AVAILABLE HERE***
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator
Patty Murray, joined by 43 of her Democratic colleagues in the Senate,
stood up for women’s reproductive rights—including the right to safe,
legal abortion—and introduced a resolution supporting women’s
reproductive rights in Washington state and nationwide. The resolution,
which affirms Democrats’ support of women’s access to reproductive
health care and women’s right to make their own health care decisions,
comes on the heels of legislative efforts in Georgia, Alabama, and other
states intended to undermine women’s reproductive rights and ultimately
overturn Roe v. Wade. The move was one of many ways people across the
country have stood up and spoken out against the efforts to undermine
the constitutionally protected right to safe, legal abortion.
The resolution completes a day of action from
Senator Murray on the issues of women’s health and reproductive rights.
This morning, Senator Murray delivered a speech
from the Senate floor opposing the recently passed abortion bans, and
reinforcing her strong support for women’s access to health care that
helps them plan their families and stay economically secure. Senator
Murray then spoke at a rally
outside of the Supreme Court, where she joined women, lawmakers,
doctors, nurses, and other advocates to defend women’s health and
constitutionally protected right to safe, legal abortion in the United
States.
A staunch defender of women’s health, Senator
Murray has fought diligently against President Trump and Republicans’
repeated attempts to circumvent women’s access to reproductive care.
Recently, Senator Murray has spoken out against the Trump administration’s harmful and unethical rule jeopardizing the Title X family planning program, as well as other Republican attacks on women’s health and reproductive rights.
As the top Democrat on the Senate health committee, Senator Murray has
made women’s reproductive health one of her top priorities, working
consistently to defend access to safe, affordable reproductive health care.
Watch Senator Murray’s full floor speech here HERE and read the full version below.
Watch Senator Murray’s full remarks from the #StoptheBans rally HERE and read the full version below.
Senator Murray’s full floor speech:
“Thank you, M. President.
“I want to start by expressing my appreciation to all my colleagues speaking out here today…
“And to the women and men nationwide who are doing the same in their own communities today.
“M. President—in the last few days we have seen
some of the most blatant and cruel efforts yet to deny women access to
safe, legal abortion…
“We’ve see legislation so extreme that it would even block a twelve-year-old survivor of rape from seeking an abortion…
“And sentence health care providers to prison
for providing safe, medically sound care to their patients—which is
their responsibility.
“M. President, the extreme politicians behind these cruel abortion bans aren’t stopping in Alabama or Missouri or anywhere else.
“They want to take these bans all the way to the Supreme Court…
“And they want to allow Brett Kavanaugh to do what President Trump and Republicans nominated him to do…
“Roll back the decision in Roe v. Wade that
affirmed a woman’s constitutionally protected right to make her own
decisions about her own body and health care.
“They’re pushing for this even though they know as well as we do that without this right, women will lose their lives…
“Even though they know just as well as we do
that without this right, doctors will be blocked from providing
medically appropriate care for their patients, as is their
responsibility.
“And M. President, let me be frank.
“Extreme conservatives will push these abortion
bans all the way to the Supreme Court even though they know—even perhaps
because they know, that in a world where women can’t control what
happens to their own bodies…
“They are fundamentally less free and less equal.
“Well, I’m not going to stand for that.
“Senate Democrats aren’t going to either.
“So I am proud to be here with my colleagues today reaffirming what our Constitution confirms is true:
• women have the right to access safe, legal abortion,
• and this makes our country stronger—because women are absolutely critical to our country’s strength.
“I am proud to be making clear that even in the face of relentless attacks on women’s health and rights…
“We aren’t going to back down one bit.
“The truth is that there are certainly extreme
politicians around the country who want to take us backward—to the Mad
Men era, or honestly quite a bit before that…
“But they aren’t speaking for our country. Quite the opposite.
“In fact, the vast majority of women and men
nationwide, from all backgrounds, agree that abortion should be safe and
legal just as our Constitution says.
“They’re watching—they are speaking up—and they
are absolutely going to remember who stood up to protect women’s health
and rights…
“And who pushed to take those rights away.
“Thank you and I yield the floor. ”
Senator Murray’s full #StoptheBans rally remarks:
“Thank you, Destiny—and hello everyone! I’m so proud to be here.
“There’s no getting around it. This is a frightening time.
“The abortion bans we’re seeing across the
country—not just in Alabama and Missouri—but in Kentucky, Mississippi,
Ohio, and Georgia, are not just wrong.
“They’re cruel.
“They’re extreme.
“They’re designed to control women’s decisions and criminalize doctors.
“They do the most damage to the patients who have the least resources to fight back.
“And they come even after 400 abortion restrictions have been passed in the last decade alone…
“…all with the goal of eliminating access to safe, legal abortion in our country.
“So, we have a lot of work ahead of us.
“But even though we have a tough fight
ahead—I’ve never believed more in the power of women’s voices to make
change than I do today.
“When women speak up—change happens. Progress happens.
“And we—especially every single one of you here
today—are what’s standing between extreme politicians and the
constitutionally protected right to safe, legal abortion…
“…no matter who you are, where you live, or how much money you make.
“That’s what we’re fighting. And I’m sure not going to stop now—are you?
“So let me ask you:
“Are you ready to speak up louder?
“Are you ready to fight back harder?
“Do you believe we can win?
“I do too—I know our country will be stronger for it—and I am so glad to be in this fight with all of you.”
###
