[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 18, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Abortion

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, this is a dark, enraging moment for our 
Nation. I have made that clear already, and so have so many of our 
Democratic colleagues. But I am speaking on the floor today because we 
cannot back down for a minute. We cannot lose sight of the terrifying 
reality that Republicans want to end the right to abortion, and they 
are within weeks of accomplishing that goal.
  Very soon, the Supreme Court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade and 
fulfill Republicans' decades-long goal of controlling women's bodies 
and rolling back everyone's fundamental right to decide whether or not 
to start a family.
  Let me say that again because it is shocking, and it is true. In a 
matter of weeks, women across the country will lose a constitutional 
right they have had for half a century. The steady march forward to 
secure women's rights that generations before us fought for will be 
reversed, and my daughter and granddaughters will have fewer rights 
than I did.
  Women will be forced to carry pregnancies to term when it is not 
right for them, and Republicans will be responsible. This is the future 
that they have been fighting for. This is the America that they want, 
and they are not done yet.
  Republicans are hell-bent on rolling back the clock. Last week, they 
blocked our bill to protect Roe and the right to abortion, but they are 
not going to stop at overturning Roe and shredding patients' rights to 
make decisions about their own bodies. In States across the country, 
Republican lawmakers are banning abortion without exceptions. They are 
targeting people who help a women get an abortion, doctors who are 
providing essential healthcare, friends and family members who are just 
supporting a loved one, and even the drivers just doing their job and 
helping patients get to medical appointments.
  Republicans are working around-the-clock to make it harder for women 
and families to control their own futures. They are coming after the 
birth control and IUDs that tens of millions rely on to plan a family 
on their own terms. They are coming after Plan B. They are even putting 
patients' ability to get the IVF care they need to help start a family 
at risk.
  My Republican colleagues right here in the Senate have made clear 
that they have their sights set on something really extreme: They want 
a nationwide ban on abortion. Republicans aren't content with some 
States banning abortion and creating health crises that spill across 
State lines; they want to eliminate the right of every woman in America 
to get an abortion in Washington State and everywhere else. It is not 
hypothetical, and it is not some far-off worry. It is appalling, and it 
is completely backward.
  Republicans want to force us all with them into their time machine, 
but we are not going to let them. Democrats are fighting Republicans' 
increasingly extreme policies at every step of the way.

  In the coming weeks, we are going to remind each and every American 
of the rights that Republicans want to rip away. We won't allow 
Republicans to run and hide from the reality of their extreme agenda. 
We are going to be on the floor each week highlighting how Republicans 
are doing everything they can to hit rewind on our rights, highlighting 
every protection and freedom that Republicans are ripping away from 
people across the country, and we are going to show the country how 
Republican policies hurt everyone. We are going to expose the 
Republicans' radical and unpopular views on everything from abortion to 
family planning to sex ed. We are going to make clear who is hurt most 
by their extremism.
  This fight did not end when the Republicans blocked the Women's 
Health Protection Act last week--far from it. People across the country 
are fed up with Republicans' attacks on their rights. They are fired 
up, and they are fighting back, and so am I, and so are my Democratic 
colleagues.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.