[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 21, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4883-S4884]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Unanimous Consent Request--S. 4723
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, last week, Republicans made clear that
despite the clear outcry from people across the country, overturning
Roe was just their first step. Republicans want a national abortion
ban. Republicans want to force my constituents to stay pregnant even
when they do not want to be and to go after the doctors who provide
abortion care.
I am here today to continue to say in no uncertain terms that
Democrats are not going to stand for it. While Republicans are busy
threatening the rights of women in every State across the country and
threatening doctors with jail time, Democrats are here to defend
abortion rights and defend the doctors who provide that care, because
even before Republicans dropped their national abortion ban bill, I was
hearing from providers in my home State of Washington who are facing a
huge influx of patients due to Republicans' extreme bans.
Just yesterday, the Texas Tribune shared the heartbreaking story of a
woman who learned that the pregnancy she had wanted so badly was
incompatible with life, that her daughter was developing without a
skull or brain. But because Republicans in Texas think they know better
than this woman or her doctor, she had to travel for treatment from
Dallas all the way to Seattle to get the care she needed.
Providers on the ground in my State tell me there are so many more
patients being forced to make a trek like that. They are worried about
caring for them, and not just because it is for so many more patients,
not just because Republicans are straining resources and causing a
healthcare crisis that puts women's lives at risk; healthcare
professionals are also deeply worried about how Republicans' extreme
laws threaten their practices. They are terrified Republicans will take
away their livelihoods and even their freedom just for doing their
jobs, just for providing the care their patients need--care that is,
once again, completely legal in my State.
They are right to be scared. When it comes to Republicans' extreme,
no-holds-barred anti-abortion agenda, the writing is on the wall, and
it has been for some time. Even before this latest bill, Republican
State lawmakers were already drafting legislation that would make it a
crime to provide abortion care to a resident even in another State
where it is legal, and they were doing this while at the same time
trying to claim they didn't want to throw doctors in prison.
On top of all of that, they were standing in the way of the bill I
will offer today to protect healthcare providers. This is a really
straightforward bill. It simply protects doctors providing legal
abortion care.
The last time I tried to pass it, the junior Senator from Indiana
said he was concerned about this bill ``allowing abortions for anyone
who crosses the State lines and is not a resident of that State.'' In
other words, Republicans are worried about all the patients I mentioned
earlier who are traveling to Washington State seeking abortion care
that they urgently need. Republicans don't think they should be able to
travel to Washington State to get healthcare, and they want to allow
other States to target Washington State doctors, to threaten them for
providing legal abortion care.
That is extreme. It is not what doctors want, and it is definitely
not what the American people want. Women and men across the country do
not want politicians making their healthcare decisions and throwing
their doctors in prison. They want to be able to make their own
decisions about their own bodies, their own families, their own future.
They want doctors to be able to focus on doing their jobs, not fearing
a jail sentence.
So I urge my Republican colleagues to step aside and allow us to pass
the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act. This legislation
is so straightforward. It protects doctors providing legal abortion
care, and it ensures that they can practice medicine and save lives
without fear of legal threats and intimidation. It makes clear that the
attacks we have seen on doctors are unacceptable and that politicians
should not be harassing or scaring or investigating, threatening, or
punishing doctors for providing care that is perfectly legal, that
patients want, and that in many cases is even necessary to save lives.
If Republicans have been doing what I have been doing, if they have
been actually listening to doctors and patients, then they should
reverse course and let us get this commonsense bill passed. But if they
continue blocking these steps, if they continue ignoring the outcry
from every corner of the country, if they continue to undermine the
health of patients seeking care and the freedom of healthcare providers
doing their jobs, they should know we are not going to stop pushing
back. There is too much at stake.
So, Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous
consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further
consideration of S. 4723; that the Senate proceed to its immediate
consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time
and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid
upon the table.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
The Senator from Indiana.
Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, reserving the right object, I am glad the
Supreme Court has returned the issue of life back to the people's
elected representatives, where it should have stayed 49 years ago.
This legislation denies State representatives the right to make laws
protecting life. This bill is an attempt to undermine State laws that
protect life by allowing abortions for anyone who crosses State lines
and is not a resident of the State.
Moreover, it gives the Department of Justice $40 million in grant
funding to help people sue States--to help people sue States--that
enact policies to protect life. The Department of Health and Human
Services is given another $40 million in funding for any eligible
center at Secretary Becerra's discretion. This funding is not protected
by the Hyde amendment, and most likely, we are going to borrow every
penny of it, like we do for most things in this place. We should not
spend $80 million to undermine State laws on life or impose a
legislative backdoor for abortion-on-demand across our Nation.
For these reasons, I oppose this bill, and I do object.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The objection is heard.
The Senator from Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I am deeply disappointed. I am not
surprised. We continue to see Republicans show their true, harsh
colors, and the contrast with Democrats could not be more stark.
We simply want people to get the healthcare they need and let them
make their own medical decisions. Republicans want to ban abortion
nationwide. We want to protect doctors. Republicans want to threaten
and penalize or even jail them just for doing their job, even when they
are following their State's laws.
Mr. President, rest assured, I will continue speaking up for our
healthcare providers, for families, for patients. And as we continue to
see
[[Page S4884]]
this extremism, I want to assure everybody that I am not going to stop
fighting.
Mr. President, someone should be allowed to travel out of their own
State to get the healthcare they need. It is unbelievable that the
Republicans block this bill.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. 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 ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.