[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 113 (Tuesday, July 9, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4260-S4261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 2024

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I rise to urge my Democratic and 
Republican colleagues to stand with the majority of Americans who 
believe a woman should have the right to choose what is best for her 
and her family, health, and future.
  The bills we are advancing today are commonsense, straightforward 
measures that will ensure more women can access the safe reproductive 
care that they need and deserve. Our legislation will also ensure that 
doctors can do their jobs, get the training they need to keep their 
patients safe.
  For 2 years, millions of women across this country have lived without 
full reproductive rights, while many more live in fear that their 
rights and freedoms could be on the chopping block. The overturning of 
Roe v. Wade has jeopardized Americans' lives, health, and future 
fertility. The Dobbs decision also forced women and their doctors to 
navigate a complicated and ever-changing patchwork of laws that dictate 
Americans' rights based on their ZIP codes.
  For example, in my home State of Wisconsin, women were sent back to 
live under an 1849 criminal abortion ban. Judges and politicians were 
invited into the exam room, while lawyers told doctors how to do their 
jobs. And these dire impacts reached further than exam rooms; they 
reached into medical schools that are training our next generation of 
doctors.
  For our top-ranked medical schools, a post-Roe reality sowed chaos as 
students and their instructors wondered how future doctors in our State 
would have access to the full slate of training necessary to safely 
practice obstetrics and gynecology.
  The overturning of Roe put those medical schools' accreditations on 
the line. It opened the prospect that OB/GYNs might not be trained to 
provide sometimes lifesaving abortion care. No matter who you are, the 
idea that doctors could graduate without the proper training to do 
their jobs and save lives should scare all of us.
  We also saw prospective students who might otherwise be attracted to 
our top-tier research institutions reconsider starting their careers in 
Wisconsin. We saw a downtick of OB/GYN residents interested in coming 
to our State. And while it is disheartening to say, can you blame them? 
Why would you want to start a career in a State that restricts you from 
doing your job and prevents your patients from exercising their right 
to control their own bodies?
  That is why last year I introduced my Reproductive Health Care 
Training Act, commonsense legislation to support training for 
healthcare providers in abortion care, including for providers forced 
to travel out of State due to abortion restrictions.
  My bill with Senator Murray would help ease the burden of travel 
costs for eligible medical programs to expand and support education for 
students, residents, and advanced practice clinicians in States that 
allow comprehensive training in abortion care.
  Our legislation would also help ensure that medical programs 
accommodating an influx of students have the resources they need to 
provide training to students who must travel across State lines to 
complete their education.
  The reality of post-Roe America is that there are still countless 
places in the United States where medical students cannot access 
training in comprehensive reproductive care. The Reproductive Health 
Care Training Act will ensure future doctors can meet the needs of 
their patients and provide safe care, especially in States like 
Wisconsin that have abortion restrictions.
  Every woman, no matter where she lives, deserves access to 
comprehensive reproductive care. The Reproductive Health Care Training 
Act will ensure America's future doctors are able to provide the 
sometimes lifesaving care Americans deserve.
  So as in legislative session, and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask 
unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions be discharged from further consideration of S. 2024, the 
Reproductive Health Care Training Act, and 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 PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, first of 
all, let's discuss the title of this bill: Reproductive Health Care 
Training Act of 2023. Why are my friends across the aisle afraid to use 
the word ``abortion''?

  This bill has nothing to do with reproductive healthcare. This is an 
abortion training act of 2023. Let's just call it like it is. This is 
the abortion training act of 2023.
  What my colleague from Wisconsin didn't say or tell you is that this 
bill is unconstitutional. This bill uses taxpayer dollars to fund a 
direct pipeline of more abortions across the Nation through the 
Department of Health and Human Services.
  This bill establishes a program to award grants or contracts to 
eligible entities for the purposes of expanding and supporting abortion 
training and for preparing and encouraging--encouraging--preparing and 
encouraging students to become abortionists. It encourages efforts to 
train abortionists with a focus on--get this--a focus on racial and 
ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities, tribal, and medically 
underserved communities. Does this imply there is a priority to train 
and send abortionists to these groups?
  This bill authorizes $25 million to be appropriated for this abortion 
training pipeline--again, against the Hyde Amendment. This is 
unconstitutional.
  This bill has not received any type of markup in the Health 
Committee. The Federal Government should not be spending taxpayer 
dollars to encourage medical students and clinicians to take life when 
their principal duty, their sacred oath, is to protect life and to do 
no harm from conception to natural death. Therefore, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  The Senator from Wisconsin.
  Ms. BALDWIN. Yet again my Republican colleagues have sent a clear 
message to women across America. They don't think women should have the 
right to control their bodies.

[[Page S4261]]

  This bill would have ensured more women could access the safe 
reproductive care that they need and deserve, including sometimes 
lifesaving abortion care.
  Instead, my colleagues have turned their back on the millions of 
women in States where abortion is restricted. They have turned their 
backs on millions of women who are increasingly struggling to find OB/
GYN care in their community. They have turned their back on OB/GYN 
residents and students who just want to learn how to care for their 
patients.
  Without access to training and comprehensive reproductive care for 
our doctors, more women in States like my own will live in healthcare 
deserts, without the care they need to stay healthy, start a family, 
and get screenings for cancer and other serious illnesses.
  My Reproductive Health Care Training Act would have ensured America's 
future doctors have the training they need to provide safe care, 
especially in States that have abortion restrictions.
  This fight is not over, and I am in it for as long as it takes to 
restore a woman's freedom to make her own decisions about her health, 
her family, and her future.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.