Saturday, December 16, 2023

Baldwin, Warren Lead Group of 38 Senators in Introducing Resolution Affirming Support for Medication Abortion

Baldwin, Warren Lead Group of 38 Senators in Introducing Resolution Affirming Support for Medication Abortion

Action follows this week’s announcement that the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to medication abortion access

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) led 38 other Senators in introducing a resolution in support of access to the widely used, safe medication abortion. This action comes as Americans continue to grapple with the reversal of Roe v. Wade, and follows this week’s announcement that the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to medication abortion access.

“In Wisconsin and across the country, the right to comprehensive health care is under attack,” said Senator Baldwin. “We need to fight on all fronts to restore and protect the freedom of every American to make their own health care decisions, and that includes protecting access to medication abortion. Mifepristone is a safe, effective, and sometimes lifesaving medication, and it’s high time politicians and judges leave women alone and allow Americans to make their own decisions about their health, families, and future.”

The resolution expresses the sense of Congress that the scientific judgment of the FDA that mifepristone is safe and effective should be respected, and that law and policy governing access to life-saving, time-sensitive medication abortion care in the United States should be equitable and based on science. The resolution affirms that mifepristone is safe and effective, while acknowledging the significant harm that would be posed to both health care providers and patients across the nation if mifepristone were sharply curtailed.

Senator Baldwin is a steadfast advocate for women’s reproductive freedom, and is the lead sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2023, federal legislation to guarantee access to abortion, everywhere across the country and restore the right to comprehensive reproductive health care for millions of Americans.

The resolution was also co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Angus King (I-ME), Ron Wyden (D-WY), John Fetterman (D-PA), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tom Carper (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NM), Peter Welch (D-VT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tina Smith (D-MN), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Ed Markey (D-MA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Cory Booker (D-NJ).

The resolution has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Physicians for Reproductive Health, Power to Decide, National Council of Jewish Women, The Century Foundation’s Health Equity and Reform Team, National Partnership for Women and Families, Guttmacher Institute, Center for Reproductive Rights, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America), In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, and the EMAA Project.

Resolution text can be found here.

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