[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 8, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2717-S2719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Women's Healthcare
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, this week, families across our country
are preparing to celebrate Mother's Day and recognize the hard work
that women do to support their families and build a brighter future in
their communities.
Here in Congress, we should be working to help moms back in
Washington State and across the country. Unfortunately, instead of
looking for ways to support women, President Trump has been pushing an
ideological agenda that undermines their health, reproductive rights
and freedoms, and economic security.
When it comes to healthcare, President Trump is working to sabotage
the care moms and their families rely on. He changed Federal rules to
let insurance companies sell junk coverage that does not cover
maternity care, and he is arguing in court to strike down protections
for women and people with preexisting conditions in all plans insurers
sell.
Instead of supporting the Title X Family Planning Program, which has
a history of bipartisan support and a tremendous track record helping
women get critical, low-cost family planning and preventive healthcare
services, President Trump is chipping away at it and working to strip
title X grants from Planned Parenthood, which serves tens of thousands
of women in my home State of Washington each year and millions more
nationwide, including mothers like Shannon.
Shannon first went to Planned Parenthood when she was 18 for what
turned out to be endometriosis. It is a condition that causes severe
menstrual pain and can affect fertility. Thanks to the treatment she
received at Planned Parenthood, today Shannon is managing her chronic
pain and raising an adorable little girl.
When I was in Seattle a few weeks ago, another constituent, Cindy,
shared how a routine screening at Planned Parenthood saved her life by
detecting cancer early on and giving her the head start she needed to
beat it. Today Cindy is not just a survivor; she is a mother because
she was able to get pregnant after she went into remission.
We should be supporting providers that help women like them get the
care they need, not burdening them with restrictions designed to force
out Planned Parenthood or gag clauses that prevent providers from even
discussing a patient's right to a safe, legal abortion. Moms deserve
better.
Unfortunately President Trump's attacks on women's reproductive
rights go well beyond his changes to the title X program. Since day
one, he has been working to jam our courts full of far-right judges to
appease extreme Republicans who want to see Roe v. Wade struck down.
When President Trump nominated Justice Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court,
we heard from women and men across the country, concerned about what
his confirmation would mean. Countless women shared their personal
stories about what life was like before Roe v. Wade and what the right
to get a safe, legal abortion has meant to their families.
So while Republicans continue to press ahead with extreme, harmful
legislation--like the bill that was just passed in Georgia--and
President Trump continues to tell outright lies meant to demonize women
and their healthcare providers, people are going to continue calling
out those lies, calling out the attempts to turn back the clock, and
standing in solidarity with women across the country.
President Trump's harmful attacks on women's healthcare are hardly
the only time he has ignored how his policies would hurt women and
their families. He has also cruelly and unnecessarily separated
hundreds of migrant parents and their children. Yolany is a
[[Page S2718]]
mother who is being detained in Tacoma, WA, while her 6-year-old son
has been sent all the way across the country to New York. According to
media reports, they were kept apart for almost 2 months before they
were reunited. Their story is just one of so many pointless tragedies
President Trump's heartless family separation policy has caused.
Moms deserve better, especially when there are so many other
challenges on which they need us to lead. There is the maternal
mortality crisis and the appalling fact that our country has the
highest maternal death rate in the developed world. We know this crisis
is worse for women of color--for African-American women in particular,
who face an even higher maternal death rate. Because of a new report
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we also know that
three out of five pregnancy-related deaths in our country are
preventable.
We should be working together to take action to stop so many mothers
from dying in childbirth and building on the $50 million Maternal
Mortality Initiative that I fought to enact in this year's funding bill
to expand evidence-based programs to prevent maternal mortality and
advance maternal health equity.
There is the childcare crisis and the reality that for far too many
parents, quality, affordable childcare is not available. One mother in
Washington State told me how she struck out with more than 10 childcare
centers before she finally found one that could care for her son, and
when she did find it, it cost her more than her mortgage. We should be
working to make sure all parents can go to work and know their children
will be well cared for.
We should also be fighting for paid family leave so that people will
have the time they need to welcome new members to their families and
start building those bonds that will last a lifetime and so that no
parent will have to choose between a paycheck and caring for a sick
child.
At a time when there is so much we could be doing to make life better
for mothers and fathers and families across the country, it is
disappointing that President Trump has spent so much time looking for
ways to make things worse.
While the Trump administration may not be fighting for families, moms
are. Just last week, I attended a rally here in Washington, DC, and met
a mom who came all the way across the country, from Washington State,
to speak up for families like hers. I know what it is like to be in her
shoes--or tennis shoes, I should say. I also know that when people like
her speak up and fight for change, they do make a difference, which is
why I am so inspired by the moms whose stories I have shared today and
by the many others who shared their stories with me back in my home
State of Washington.
I wish all the moms out there a happy Mother's Day. I know you are
going to keep fighting for your families, and I want you to know we are
going to keep fighting for you.
I yield the floor.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Hawaii.
Ms. HIRONO. Madam President, I thank Senator Murray for organizing
all of us to come to the floor in honor of Mother's Day. I will take
time to talk about the ongoing attacks on women's health in this
country.
I feel a sense of urgency about the increasingly hostile, escalating,
and unrelenting attacks on women's health by Donald Trump and
Republicans. From continuous efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, to
the taking away of title X funds, to trying to repeal the Affordable
Care Act--all programs that support healthcare for millions of women in
this country--I have to ask, why? What is the motivation to take away
healthcare services for millions of women in this country? It is not
clear why they are doing this. What is clear is the harm they are
causing women.
Repealing the Affordable Care Act would mean that insurance plans
would no longer be required to cover maternity care and birth control.
Insurance companies would be able to discriminate against people with
preexisting conditions. Astoundingly, for women, this would include
pregnancy.
Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are proposing trillion-
dollar cuts to Medicaid. If implemented, this could endanger tens of
millions of women in this country who rely on Medicaid for coverage
during pregnancies and births. Do they even care that these cuts to
Medicaid are particularly cruel in the face of an infant and maternal
mortality crisis in our country, particularly for Black women?
By establishing a gag rule, Donald Trump is forcing healthcare
providers to choose between providing full and accurate information on
all available healthcare options for women, including for abortion, and
hundreds of millions of dollars in Federal title X funding. States like
Hawaii are refusing to succumb to this unjustified coercion by refusing
title X funds and are replacing them with hard-earned State funds so
that providers in our State, for example, can give the necessary
healthcare to women.
By trying to pass onerous, new abortion restrictions in States across
the country, conservative forces are working hard to undermine a
woman's constitutional right to have an abortion. One institution that
can stand up to this assault on women's rights and women's health is
our Federal judiciary. Last month, for example, a Federal judge in
Washington State blocked the implementation of the Trump
administration's title X gag rule. In March, a Federal judge in
Kentucky prevented a new law from going into effect that would have
restricted abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy. These two recent
examples demonstrate the importance of our courts in upholding the
Constitution and the law and in constraining radical rightwing assaults
on women's health and rights.
To counter what independent judges are doing, Donald Trump, Leader
McConnell, and Senate Republicans are packing our courts with
ideologically driven conservative judges who will be on their
ideological page. Over the past 2\1/2\ years, they have confirmed more
than 100 new Federal judges, an overwhelming majority of whom was
selected by two ultraconservative organizations--the Federalist Society
and the Heritage Foundation.
Their efforts to pack the courts continue this week in an upcoming
vote on a nominee for the Second Circuit in New York, Michael Park, who
fought to restrict access to reproductive healthcare for women. In one
recent example, Mr. Park defended Kansas's attempt to defund Planned
Parenthood by terminating its Medicaid contracts. This would have ended
the vital services Planned Parenthood provides to low-income patients,
services such as cancer screenings and access to contraception.
Fortunately, the judges who heard that case rejected Mr. Park's
arguments. Yet, now, with his confirmation to the Second Circuit all
but assured, Mr. Park is set to become the judge in these types of
cases. It is no wonder that both of his home State Senators oppose his
nomination.
In their not being satisfied with packing our courts with judges who
have ideologically rightwing agendas, Donald Trump and Republican
leaders are resorting to incendiary, reprehensible, and false rhetoric
to inflame their base. We have seen this most recently in the debate
around the so-called Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act and
the vilification of women who seek abortions later in pregnancy.
Infanticide is already a crime, but you would never know it if you
listened to Republican politicians and their mouthpieces on FOX News
and the conservative media.
In a FOX News op-ed, my colleague from Nebraska, for example, accused
the Democrats of ``blurring the line between abortion and outright
infanticide.'' During the debate on the bill, ultraconservative FOX
News host Laura Ingraham compared Planned Parenthood--the Nation's
largest maternal health provider that has saved thousands of lives--to
Adolf Hitler. She said: ``Hitler, just like Planned Parenthood,
practiced and defended mass extermination.''
Immediately after the Senate defeated this unnecessary bill, Donald
Trump tweeted:
Senate Democrats just voted against legislation to prevent
the killing of newborn infant children. The Democrat position
on abortion is now so extreme that they don't mind executing
babies AFTER birth.
The President's incendiary and completely false rhetoric on this
issue has become a rallying cry at his bizarre political rallies across
the country. Last
[[Page S2719]]
month, in Green Bay, WI, for example, he said:
The baby is born, the mother meets with the doctor, they
take care of the baby, they wrap the baby beautifully, and
then the doctor and the mother determine whether or not they
will execute the baby.
This kind of rhetoric is simply outrageous. It is not harmless
electioneering. It is dangerous. It is incitement. It is also provoking
a dramatic uptick in threats to abortion providers and supporters of
abortion rights across the country.
This sustained rightwing attack is taking a heavy emotional toll on
women who seek to have abortions later in their pregnancies and the
doctors who provide this essential care.
Kate Carson, a woman from Boston who sought an abortion after Laurel,
her daughter, was diagnosed with catastrophic brain malformations in
2012, wrote a powerful op-ed about her painful decision.
Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the
Record Kate Carson's op-ed, dated February 19, 2019.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From USA Today, Feb. 19, 2019]
I Had a Later Abortion Because I Couldn't Give My Baby Girl Both Life
and Peace
(By Kate Carson, Opinion Contributor)
No one loves my baby more than I do. Her death was a gift
of mercy. Now, women like me will always be a scapegoat for
policies limiting women's rights.
People are talking about me again, loudly, unkindly. Even
the president of the United States has had his say about
families like mine. I have told this story so many times, but
I will tell it again as many times as it takes.
I help run a support group for families who have ended
pregnancy after poor prenatal or maternal diagnoses. If
you're wondering, ``Who are these women who get abortions in
the third trimester?'' We are. I am. Parents who love our
babies with our entire hearts. Desperate acts like an
abortion in the 36th week of pregnancy are brought about only
by the most desperate circumstances and are only available to
those who can come up with a lot of money quickly.
I know. I've been there.
My daughter, Laurel, was diagnosed in May 2012 with
catastrophic brain malformations (including Dandy-Walker
malformation) that were overlooked until my 35th week of
pregnancy. I did not know much about brain disorders at that
point. I imagined developmental delay, special education
classes, financial pressure, an overhaul of expectations for
Laurel's life and my motherhood. Here were the doctors' real
expectations for Laurel: a brief life of seizures, full-body
muscle cramps, and aspirating her own bodily fluids.
When I heard the list of all the things my beloved daughter
would not do--talk, walk, hold her head up, swallow--I
grasped for what she would be able to do.
``Do children like mine just sleep all the time?'' I asked.
The neurologist winced. Children like yours, he told me--
slowly--are not often comfortable enough to sleep.
Our choice was sad--but clear.
Let me answer some questions you might be thinking: Yes, we
were sure that these problems were severe. No, there is no
cure, nor any on the horizon. Yes, we were counseled in-depth
on our options, including adoption. Because we wanted to
spare our daughter as much suffering as possible, our choice
was very sad, but crystal clear: abortion.
I imagined an abortion at eight months would be grisly. But
no matter how violent my imagination, it surely could not
compare with the suffering Laurel would have endured in her
own broken body.
In Massachusetts, my home state, a later abortion can be
obtained only if the life or health of the mother is at risk.
So I set off on a 2,000-mile journey from Massachusetts to
Colorado to access this abortion. I landed, not in the
nightmare I had imagined, but in the safest, kindest, most
dignified hands I have ever encountered as a patient
anywhere. Dr. Warren Hem at his Boulder Abortion Clinic is
one of the few doctors in the country performing this
procedure. After a single injection and a couple of hours, my
baby was laid to rest in my womb, the purest mercy that I
knew how to give my Laurel.
As the usual hubbub of hate and misunderstanding around
abortion swelled to a roar this month, the president unfairly
addressed families like mine in his State of the Union
address. He hasn't really listened to women like me or
doctors like Dr. Hem. He seems to care nothing for the true
stories of heartbreak, loss and extreme medical complexity
behind abortion later in pregnancy. Instead, his agenda must
inflate fear and horror until every last American thinks of
unspeakable violence.
Mercy means something different to each family.
This is not about abortion. It is about power. This
administration needs the public to be angry at women like me
and misinformed about what compels women to seek later
abortions, which make up less than 1.5 percent of abortions,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But I believe that Americans can hear our story and meet the
painful, complicated truth about abortions later in pregnancy
with love and understanding.
And most Americans have compassion for a woman's choice
when it comes to her reproductive health care. In fact,
nearly 70 percent of Americans do not want to see the Supreme
Court completely overturn Roe v. Wade, according to the Pew
Research Center.
Nobody loves Laurel more than I do. Her death was a gift of
mercy. Mercy means different things to different loving
families, and that has to be OK. To all the families who
faced similar circumstances and made a different choice, I
honor you. I trust your wisdom. I celebrate your child's
brief and beautiful life.
We must treat each other with love, tenderness and respect.
It is horrible, as a parent, to choose between life and peace
for our children, especially when we want to give our
children both beautiful and precious gifts.
It is devastating to lose a child. But, unlike most
bereaved parents, women like me will live out the rest of our
lives as scapegoats, fuel for an agenda that seeks to strip
women and families of our reproductive freedoms.
When I think of my baby Laurel, I feel love and peace.
Unfortunately, I cannot be with that peace because there are
fresh wounds in the way, the throbbing pain of being hated
and misunderstood.
Ms. HIRONO. Madam President, here is some of what Kate wrote:
I help run a support group for families who have ended
pregnancy after poor prenatal or maternal diagnoses. If
you're wondering, ``Who are these women who get abortions in
the third trimester?'' We are. I am. Parents who love our
babies with our entire hearts. Desperate acts like an
abortion in the 36th week of pregnancy are brought about only
by the most desperate circumstances and are only available to
those who can come up with a lot of money quickly.
I know. I've been there.
My daughter, Laurel, was diagnosed in May 2012 with
catastrophic brain malformations . . . that were overlooked
until my 35th week of pregnancy.
I did not know much about brain disorders at that point. I
imagined developmental delay, special education classes,
financial pressure, an overhaul of expectations for Laurel's
life and my motherhood. Here were the doctors' real
expectations for Laurel: a brief life of seizures, full-body
muscle cramps, and aspirating her own bodily fluids.
It is devastating to lose a child. But, unlike most
bereaved parents, women like me will live out the rest of our
lives as scapegoats, fuel for an agenda that seeks to strip
women and families of our reproductive freedoms.
Madam President, it is outrageous and offensive that Donald Trump and
his allies in Congress would seek to turn women like Kate into
scapegoats for their political agendas.
I have been an advocate of abortion rights for decades, and I fear
that one day soon, women in this country will wake up and realize they
no longer have control over their own bodies. What could be more
intrusive than the government's telling women what they can do with
their own bodies?
In the face of these ongoing attacks on women's health and women's
rights, we will continue to raise our voices. We will continue to fight
back.
I yield the floor.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I rise to speak about the pending
nominations. I will have comments on both.
First, I ask unanimous consent that both sets of remarks appear in
separate parts of the Record that are relevant to those nominations.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.