[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 130 (Wednesday, August 3, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3873-S3874]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                ABORTION

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, two sets of numbers show the winds 
blowing in the Democratic direction: first, the numbers revealed by the 
vote last night in the State of Kansas and, second, new polling data 
that shows how overwhelmingly popular the Inflation Reduction Act is in 
the minds of the American people. These numbers show winds blowing in 
Democrats' direction on the issue of choice and on the issue of the 
Inflation Reduction Act.
  Today, I want to talk about both. So let me begin with last night's 
election in Kansas. Last night, in the American heartland, the people 
of Kansas sent an unmistakable message to MAGA Republican extremists: 
Back off women's fundamental rights. In the first vote on abortion 
rights since the MAGA Supreme Court's reprehensible decision to take 
away constitutional rights protected by Roe v. Wade--and which was 
cheered by many Republicans here in the Senate--voters in Kansas 
decided by a double-digit margin to preserve the freedom of choice in 
their State Constitution.

[[Page S3874]]

  What happened in red Kansas last night is a reflection of what is 
happening across the country and what will continue to occur through 
the November elections. Voters are revolting against the extreme MAGA 
Republican policies that ban abortions with no exceptions for rape or 
incest and send women and doctors to jail.
  Last night's election was also a dark reminder that MAGA Republicans 
are running the show within the GOP. Their views are spreading through 
the party like a cancer--views that are repugnant not only to most 
Americans but, as we saw last night, even to many Republican voters.
  And Kansas was just the start. If it is going to happen in Kansas, it 
is going to happen in a whole lot of States. The strong pro choice 
turnout we saw last night in Kansas will continue well into the fall, 
and Republicans who side with these extremist MAGA policies that attack 
women's rights do so at their own political risk.

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