[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 21, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4881-S4882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Abortion

  Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, in the months since the conservative 
majority on the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, the assault on 
reproductive rights by anti-choice, MAGA Republicans has been 
relentless.
  Anti-choice States across the country have already enacted strict and 
rigid abortion bans that strip our rights away, threaten to jail women 
and their doctors, and put women's

[[Page S4882]]

health at risk. And just as we have always known, this threat is not 
just at the State level.
  Last week, legislation was introduced in this very Chamber that would 
enact a national abortion ban, one that would strip women of the 
fundamental right to control their own bodies. This abortion ban--and 
that is exactly what it is, a nationwide abortion ban--poses a real and 
serious threat to the rights of women across this country. This is a 
dangerous nationwide government mandate that would threaten women and 
their doctors--threaten them--with jail time, including those in my 
State of Nevada.
  Pro-choice States like Nevada, where the people voted overwhelmingly 
to protect reproductive freedoms as part of State law, would be 
forced--forced--to abide by this Federal mandate. Because Federal law 
supersedes State law, this legislation would override the will of 
Nevadans and the freedom--the freedom--that they have had for decades.
  If anti-choice Republicans in Congress have their way and their 
national abortion ban passes--listen to this--then Nevada's doctors 
could be prosecuted; Nevada's women could be jailed; and Nevada's women 
could die as a result of a lack of access to care.
  So let's be clear. The only thing standing in the way of their 
national abortion ban is the pro-choice majority in the U.S. Senate, 
and I will do everything I can to fight this legislation threatening 
our reproductive rights not just in Nevada but across the country.
  That is why I helped to introduce the Let Doctors Provide 
Reproductive Health Care Act, along with Senators Murray, Padilla, and 
the Acting President pro tempore, Senator Lujan, to protect doctors in 
States like Nevada, where abortion remains legal and protects women 
from facing prosecution and potentially jail by anti-choice States. No 
doctor--let me repeat this. No doctor should ever be jailed for 
providing women with the reproductive and often lifesaving care they 
need wherever these women are from. No doctor should ever be jailed for 
providing care.
  Anti-choice Republicans in the Senate have blocked these efforts in 
the past as they have continued to push for dangerous bans.
  Today--today--we have another opportunity to protect doctors and 
their patients by passing this legislation--without obstruction or 
delay--because let's be clear: We will not--we will not--give up. We 
will not allow a national abortion ban to pass the Senate. We will not 
allow doctors to face prosecution for doing their jobs. We must--we 
must--protect a woman's right to choose and continue fighting against 
this ban every step of the way.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican whip.