[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 49 (Thursday, March 16, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S836]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                ABORTION

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I come to the floor this afternoon to 
talk about a court decision that is likely to come down anytime now 
that could be an attack on abortion rights and access to healthcare 
across the country. This is an important issue affecting the removal of 
access to mifepristone, a drug that can lead to a termination of a 
pregnancy but in the comfort of someone's home. The latest is an 
example of a radical court in Texas trying to further restrict access 
to safe and legal medication for abortion, which has been safely used 
by millions of women over the past 22 years. Since Roe v. Wade was 
overturned last summer, abortion patients and providers across the 
country have faced a growing challenge, misinformation, threats, and 
inability to get reproductive care--even in States like mine where 
abortion is still legal.
  Last week, I and Senator Murray met with abortion providers in 
Seattle who told me about the growing fear and confusion among patients 
since Roe has been overturned. The medical director at a clinic told 
me, in the past 9 months, it has become routine for patients to ask 
whether it is OK to even talk about abortions in the exam room. 
Patients have been more hesitant to say where they live in fear of 
legal retaliation. Mind you, this is in a State where the people in the 
State voted to have abortion rights protected in a vote in 1991. This 
assault on women's reproductive health is already having an impact on 
women, even keeping them from talking about their options with their 
healthcare providers.

  Anti-abortion extremists are now turning their attention to Medicaid 
abortion. Nearly a quarter of a century ago, the FDA approved 
mifepristone, a drug that is safer, in some people's minds, it says, 
than Tylenol. Today, more than half of all abortions and procedures in 
the United States, including 55 percent of those in the State of 
Washington, are performed through this medication.
  This drug is not only safe and legal to use, but it also makes 
abortion more accessible, but we know that this access could be 
threatened through areas like telehealth, where a patient doesn't have 
to travel long distances to see a provider. The access is important for 
Planned Parenthood clinics. The medical director of Planned Parenthood 
told me a story of a patient who traveled thousands of miles from her 
home State to Washington to get abortion care. She couldn't afford a 
hotel room, so she stayed with a friend, and the patient had to take 
off time from work to make this trip. After all this effort, the woman 
had a miscarriage while waiting in the waiting room.
  People shouldn't have to travel all the way across the country just 
for the kind of healthcare they deserve. This is why the court case on 
Medicaid abortion is so dangerous. Should one judge in Texas decide to 
overturn the FDA's approval of this safe drug from more than two 
decades ago, it would effectively ban the drug on a nationwide basis.
  The kinds of things that are already happening to intimidate or not 
provide this in the pharmacies in our State are alarming. This ruling 
would mean that every State, including those like mine that have 
already expressed their opinion with the codification of Roe v. Wade, 
could have some of its healthcare denied. The ruling would mean that in 
Washington State, where abortion has expressly been under our State law 
for more than 30 years, a person who needs or elects to terminate their 
pregnancy could no longer safely do it at their home if they can't get 
access to this drug.
  Indeed, we will continue to fight for these issues. We want women in 
America to have access.
  This judge's decision in Texas could cost people in our State. It 
could cost them time to travel, cost them time of healthcare, and 
certainly we are seeing an uptick in the number of people coming to 
Washington to get access to care.
  We are also seeing people upping the ante in places like Spokane, 
where they are trying to publicly humiliate people coming to clinics by 
protesting. This is not a way to run healthcare. And we can't have a 
judge in Texas deciding what FDA and scientists nearly a quarter of a 
century ago said was a safe procedure.
  We know that this is depriving women even in States where their 
rights are guaranteed. It is impacting their access to safe and legal 
abortions. There is a reason why we have an FDA and the science, and we 
need to continue to listen to them.
  Let's be clear. We are not going to let a decision like this go 
unchallenged. People will not stop getting pregnant. And if this one 
judge decides to substitute his opinion for the FDA's, women will 
continue to look for this drug, and they will look for safe options.
  I hope we can continue to educate people on how this is affecting 
people in States that have already voted by law to protect a woman's 
right to choose. This is eroding our rights, it is impacting our 
providers, and it is basically telling young women that we are not sure 
if you are going to be able to get access to this drug.
  I hope the courts will not go down this errant path, and I hope that 
we here will get our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to vote 
with us to clarify and protect a woman's right to choose at the Federal 
level.
  I yield the floor.

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