- September 24, 2024
Republicans Block Senate Democrats’ Resolution Affirming Right to Lifesaving Emergency Care for Women
ICYMI: Murray Leads Congressional Democrats in Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Affirm that EMTALA Requires Hospitals to Provide Emergency Stabilizing Care Including Abortion Care, Preempts Idaho’s Draconian Abortion Ban
ICYMI: Senator Murray Challenges Republicans to Join Democrats in Affirming the Right to Lifesaving Emergency Care for Women
ICYMI – FROM PROPUBLICA: Abortion Bans Have Delayed Emergency Medical Care. In Georgia, Experts Say This Mother’s Death Was Preventable.
***WATCH: SENATOR MURRAY’S FLOOR SPEECH HERE***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), took to the Senate floor in an effort to pass her resolution, which simply expresses the sense of the Senate that every patient has the basic right to emergency health care, including abortion care, regardless of where they live. Murray’s resolution was blocked by Republican Senator James Lankford (R-OK), who falsely claimed that no doctors are prevented from providing lifesaving care because of Republican abortion bans and tried to misleadingly place the blame for Amber Thurman’s death on the rare side effects she encountered rather than Thurman’s doctors not providing immediate treatment as a result of Georgia’s abortion ban. ProPublica’s reporting made plain that—according to the state’s own medical review board—Amber Thurman’s death was preventable and doctors and researchers continue to make clear that medication abortion is safe.
Lankford also incorrectly claimed no women have been investigated or criminalized following a miscarriage—a new report found that from June 2022 to June 2023 there was a record 200 cases where pregnant women faced criminal charges for conduct associated with pregnancy, pregnancy loss or birth.
“Let me be perfectly clear about what is happening,” said Senator Murray after Republicans blocked her resolution. “Here
in America, in the 21st century, pregnant women are suffering and
dying—not because doctors don’t know how to save them, but because
doctors don’t know if Republicans will let them. There are skyrocketing
maternal death rates in states like Texas. And as I spoke out on the
floor last week—there are, at least, two women dead in Georgia today
because of Republican abortion bans. Those kids are now growing up
without a mother. That is the harsh reality. Republicans can’t ignore
that. Donald Trump can’t shout over it. And the American people will
not—ever—forget it.”
Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade over two years ago, nearly two dozen US states led
by Republicans have passed, banned, or severely restricted access to
abortion. These strict laws have created confusion around the treatment
doctors can provide even when a pregnant patient’s life is in danger, as
physicians fear that they may lose their medical license, be sued, or
even charged with a felony if they perform life-saving emergency care.
Despite the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act’s (EMTALA)
requirements that Medicare-participating hospitals treat and stabilize
pregnant patients in need of emergency medical care, women are being turned away from emergency rooms following the Dobbs decision.
In Moyle v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court had the opportunity to reaffirm that federal law requires pregnant patients to have access to life-saving emergency care in every state, but instead, the Court dismissed the case and sent it back to the lower courts, effectively punting on making a decision on the case itself. While the litigation continues in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the health and lives of women remain at risk as uncertainty around emergency abortion care persists. 121 Congressional Republicans, including 26 Senators, filed an amicus brief arguing that EMTALA does not require hospitals to provide abortion care as emergency stabilizing care in order to save a patient’s life.
Senator Murray is a longtime leader in the fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care and abortion rights, and she has led Congressional efforts to fight back after the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Murray has introduced more than a dozen pieces of legislation to protect reproductive rights from further attacks, protect providers, and help ensure women get the care they need; Murray has led efforts to push for passage of these bills on the floor multiple times. Senator Murray also co-leads the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would restore the right to abortion nationwide. This January, Murray led her colleagues in hosting a “State of Abortion Rights” briefing with women who have suffered firsthand from Republican abortion bans. On June 4th of this year, Senator Murray chaired a HELP Committee hearing titled “The Assault on Women’s Freedoms: How Abortion Bans Have Created a Health Care Nightmare Across America.” Recently, Murray also helped lead efforts to force Republicans on the record on votes to protect access to contraception and access to IVF (twice). Murray has also led her colleagues in raising the alarm about how a second Trump administration intends to wage an all-out assault on reproductive rights and abortion access in every state, as outlined in Project 2025.
Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered, before seeking unanimous consent are below:
“I come to the floor to offer a simple resolution, one that reaffirms the basic principle that when you go to the ER, the emergency room, they should be allowed to treat you. When your life is in danger, doctors should be able to do their job. When you need emergency care—including an abortion—no politician should stop you from getting it.
“Now this seems incredibly simple to me. It should not be controversial. Especially if everyone who talks about protecting the life of the mother seriously means it.
“After all—that is what emergency care is for—saving the life of the mother.
“And yet, when the Biden-Harris Administration tried to make
clear that these women should get care, many Republicans actually
opposed them. I really want to emphasize—we are talking about women
whose water breaks dangerously early, or who are experiencing
uncontrollable hemorrhaging, sepsis, or pre-eclampsia.
“And still, Republicans actually filed a brief in court saying essentially, ‘No, we DON’T think doctors should be required to provide abortion care when a patient’s life is at stake.’
“Their brief rejected the idea—that basic medical reality—of abortion as stabilizing care. That is really shocking to me. It should be shocking to everyone.
“After a brief like that—I am not going to let any of my Republican colleagues off the hook just for saying they care about the life of the mother…
“Not if they won’t lift a finger to actually protect women, and to actually make clear that emergency care can include abortion.
“We need to send a clear message on that. The Senate needs to speak with one voice and tell the American people, ‘Yes, we want to make sure your doctor can save your life. Your doctor can save your life.’
“And before my Republican colleagues get up to object, let me be clear: You will not get by pretending a resolution like this isn’t necessary—not when we are hearing firsthand from doctors wracked with guilt for decisions that Republican politicians made for them, not when we are hearing firsthand from women who have bled, suffered, and nearly died because their care was delayed, and certainly not when Texas saw maternal deaths skyrocket following its strict abortion ban.
“The data in Texas paints a clear, brutal picture of the reality:
these abortion bans are killing women. Republicans are also not going
to get by trying to shift blame and argue ‘emergency care is already
protected.’ Because, the whole point of this resolution is to say emergency care is protected!
“So if you oppose the Senate actually SAYING that don’t you see how that could be part of the problem? Don’t you see how that could be very dangerous for women?
“And again, and I can’t emphasize this enough—if you don’t see, if you don’t understand—all you have to do is listen.
“Women are speaking out. Doctors are speaking out. They are terrified. They are heartbroken. They are angry. And they are watching right now, to see if we can pass this resolution and do the very bare minimum of saying, with one voice: ‘women have a right to get abortion care when their life is at stake.”
Senator Murray’s full remarks as delivered following Senator Lankford’s objection are below:
“I disagree with the Senator from Oklahoma. Let me be perfectly clear about what is happening.
“Here in America, in the 21st century, pregnant women are suffering and dying—not because doctors don’t know how to save them, but because doctors don’t know if Republicans will let them.
“There are skyrocketing maternal death rates in states like Texas. And as I spoke out on the floor last week—there are, at least, two women dead in Georgia today because of Republican abortion bans.
“Those kids are now growing up without a mother. That is the harsh reality. Republicans can’t ignore that. Donald Trump can’t shout over it. And the American people will not—ever—forget it.
“Every day we are going to continue to hold the people opposed to this accountable for the cruelty of these abortion bans. The fact is that the resolution that I offered simply says that doctors can provide emergency care for the life of the mother. I don’t understand where the disagreement is, M. President. And I hope that we can pass this and give doctors and women the confidence that when you are pregnant and having a severe emergency medical situation you’ll be treated. Thank you. I yield the floor.”
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