[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 11, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2440-S2441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Women's Health Protection Act

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, earlier today, the Senate took one of the 
most significant votes I have been a part of in my time in public 
service. While the Women's Health Protection Act didn't pass, this vote 
made it very clear where every Senator stands. The Republicans 
unanimously voted to criminalize abortion in more than half the States 
in America in just a few weeks. Democrats vowed to stop the Alito Court 
from turning the clock back on women's health by a century.
  Let's be very clear about the consequences of this ruling when it 
becomes final. It will immediately criminalize abortion in many States. 
It will allow Republicans to pass a law criminalizing abortion in all 
50 States. It will throw out the constitutional right to privacy--a 
right upon which marriage and choice and many other civil rights 
depend. It will put government and governments in control of women's 
bodies for millions and millions of people across America. This is a 
terrifying prospect.
  It is no secret that people have been considering what would happen 
if and when this far-right Supreme Court would throw out Roe. Less than 
a month ago, I was on the floor talking about the end of Roe and the 
danger to Griswold v. Connecticut, the case that affirmed the right of 
married people to use contraception. However, it is still a shock--a 
gut punch--to see how eager our colleagues on the other side are to 
strip women of their constitutional freedoms and endanger their lives.
  They are going a lot further--a lot further--than simply overturning 
Roe. All the talk about States' rights seems to have gone out the 
window. The goal is a Federal abortion ban, Federal criminalization.
  Already, Republicans, including Governors and statehouse leaders, are 
talking about banning birth control. I will say that again. This year, 
2022--not 50, 75 years ago; 2022--they are talking about banning birth 
control. Already, there are plans to restrict people's freedom of 
movement, criminalizing women who travel to other States for an 
abortion and even the person who gives them a ride. No sugarcoating can 
be done here. We are talking about enacting laws that reach beyond 
State borders, hearkening back to the darkest days of our history.
  This far-right Alito Court has already given far-right lawmakers a 
green light to do what it wishes to do when it comes to abortion. There 
is no reason to trust this Court to draw the line at restricting 
women's freedom of movement.
  Another closely related issue that ought to frighten millions of 
women is the prospect that, with abortion criminalized, women's 
personal data is going to be weaponized against them by bounty hunters 
and the government.
  I have been sounding the alarm for years about the abuse of location 
data taken from people's cell phones. In a world where Sam Alito is in 
charge of abortion laws, that is one massive, massive crisis. Shady 
data brokers are already tracking women who go to Planned Parenthood 
clinics, and they will sell that data to anybody around who has a 
credit card. Imagine for a moment what not just prosecutors but these 
deranged far-right vigilantes can do with this data. The apps women 
use, the websites they visit, the places they go--all of it can be used 
against them by prosecutors.
  In short, this is uterus surveillance. That is what is coming down 
the pike unless Congress acts and gets serious about consumer privacy 
and prohibiting the government from making end runs around the Fourth 
Amendment.
  It is a shock to me how little concern there seems to be for some of 
these big issues. It is a full-out sprint toward massive government 
overreach and severe restrictions on women's freedom and privacy.
  There is zero thought--zero--given to victims of rape. There is zero 
thought--zero thought--given to victims of incest. There is zero 
thought to women being exploited after being forced to seek back-room 
abortions, zero thought given to how many more women will die--die--as 
a result of this ruling. Complications during pregnancy could become a 
death sentence in States like Texas, where law enforcement has already 
shown the willingness to arrest a woman for having a miscarriage. A 
woman's tragedy of losing a baby can be compounded by the very real 
threat of criminal prosecution.
  Through all of this, abortions will still happen; they will just 
happen in conditions that are much less safe than they are now.
  I know that there are Members on the other side who are always quoted 
as saying they care about these issues. They have been saying it for 
years. Yet now the Senate is at this moment. Not a single Republican 
Senator voted to protect the law as it stands today.
  The vast majority of people in Oregon and all across the country 
oppose what the Alito Court is inflicting on them by tossing out Roe. 
This is extreme judicial radicalism, proof that these Justices were 
pretty much blowing smoke when they told Senators they would respect 
precedent if they were confirmed.
  The bottom line now is this: If you don't have control over your own 
body, you are not free. The Alito Court is denying women control over 
their own

[[Page S2441]]

bodies. This is an attack on their freedom, a denial of Americans' 
right to privacy.
  Criminalizing abortion is wrong, plain and simple. And you have to 
ask and certainly people from one end of the country to another tonight 
are going to ask, how can this be allowed to stand?
  Tonight is not the end of this battle. The Senate has taken one vote. 
Now Americans must cast their vote and make it clear whether they want 
to be part of Mitch McConnell's new reality.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.