[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 149 (Tuesday, September 24, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6352-S6353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 2152

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I rise today in support a woman's right 
to control her own body. Across the country, women have been stripped 
of the freedom to make their own decisions--decisions about their 
families, their health, and their futures. Judges and politicians have 
inserted themselves into exam rooms, telling doctors they cannot treat 
their patients, sometimes even if that treatment would save her life.
  In my home State of Wisconsin, women lived for 15 months under a 
criminal abortion ban that was passed in 1849, a law on the books from 
1 year after our statehood and 70 years before a woman won the right to 
vote. And while there were no women in the room when the statute was 
crafted, 2 years ago, Wisconsin women woke up to find their healthcare 
decisions would be dictated by a law that predates the Civil War. They 
woke up to find out that they now had fewer rights than their mothers 
and their grandmothers. That day began 15 months of confusion and chaos 
and heartbreak for families across Wisconsin.
  We heard stories of women bleeding out from miscarriages, developing 
life-threatening infections, or being forced to carry unviable 
pregnancies until they could find an appointment out of State. For 
countless women, that meant driving hours, paying for lodging and 
childcare, and taking time off work just to make their own decisions 
about their own body.
  Patients from every one of Wisconsin's 72 counties traveled to 
Illinois just to access healthcare, some traveling over 500 miles. 
Prior to the Dobbs

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decision, only one in six Wisconsin abortion patients received out-of-
State care. During our criminal abortion ban, that number skyrocketed 
to 9 out of 10 patients seeking care out of State.
  Those families were being forced to drive, on average, 103 minutes to 
exercise their right to control their own bodies and get the care they 
needed, nearly double the time that they drove to access care before 
Roe fell.
  And I am talking here about women who could afford the more than 
$1,000 in costs to access that care. We must also be aware of those who 
could not. For example, patients traveling from out of State had to 
fork up an average of $330 just for lodging.
  In 2023 alone, Illinois and Minnesota providers saw over 6,000 
patients from Wisconsin. You heard me right. Six thousand Wisconsin 
women were forced to travel sometimes hundreds of miles just to access 
healthcare. And even though Wisconsin has restored access to abortion 
in three counties, Planned Parenthood of Illinois is still seeing three 
times as many patients from Wisconsin compared to before the Dobbs 
decision came down. The reality is that abortion care is still only 
available in 3 of our 72 counties.
  Exercising this fundamental freedom is out of reach for far too many 
in America. Twenty-two States across the country have abortion bans, 
and that means one in three women of reproductive age live in a State 
where they cannot get the healthcare they need because politicians are 
telling them that they know better.
  Well, women and families deserve better. That is why last year I 
introduced the Reproductive Health Travel Fund Act to give millions of 
women without access to care in their home States a lifeline. This bill 
would ease the tremendous financial burden Republican abortion bans 
have placed squarely on women who are trying to access critical care. 
Women are spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to pay for 
travel, lodging, meals, and childcare just to make their own healthcare 
decisions.
  These past 2 years we have heard shocking stories of women, often 
desperate for help, having nowhere to turn. Last week, we even heard 
the story of a woman who died because she was denied abortion care 
until it was too late.
  If my colleagues insist that this issue is a decision for the States 
and not for women, then I hope that they can at least recognize the 
tremendous hardship their patchwork of laws has created.
  The rights you have as an American should not depend upon what State 
you live in. If we cannot restore Roe this Congress, we should, at the 
very least, extend a lifeline to the millions of women who are unable 
to access care in their own communities.
  So as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from 
further consideration of S. 2152, the Reproductive Health Travel Fund 
Act, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; that the 
bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, if my 
Democrat colleagues were honest, they would call this bill what it 
really is: the ``Elective Abortion Travel Slush Fund for All Act.'' 
This bill authorizes 350 million taxpayer dollars for radical abortion 
groups to facilitate elective abortions.
  And this money isn't limited to Americans. It would also give 
taxpayer money to noncitizens--illegal aliens--who are seeking 
abortions. This bill would use Federal funds to cover the cost of 
flights, food, hotels, and other expenses for any individual in the 
United States seeking abortion, paid for by the American taxpayers. It 
would even cover lost wages for those traveling to get abortion.
  Fifty million dollars of taxpayer money in this bill would go 
directly to groups like Planned Parenthood to pay for advertising, 
website development, increasing staff, and building maintenance and 
construction, all of which will go to encouraging--if not coercing--
women to get abortions, not to seek alternatives.
  Now, there is a major inconvenient fact that Senate Democrats are 
ignoring: The Hyde amendment is clear, no taxpayer funds may be used 
for abortion. My colleagues will say: Well, no, this money isn't paying 
for abortions. But let's be clear. This taxpayer money is being used 
for one purpose: to take the lives of unborn children.
  While the actual abortion procedures aren't covered by this bill, it 
covers every other cost associated with ensuring abortions happen.
  Democrats know the Hyde amendment prevents and prohibits Federal 
dollars funding abortions. It has been the law of the land for 48 
years. It was democratically agreed to then, and it still stands today. 
Still, today, 60 percent of voters agree with the Hyde amendment--on 
both sides of the aisle--that taxpayer dollars should not be used for 
abortions. I am sure that percentage is even higher for illegals 
getting taxpayer money for abortions.
  But Democrats really don't care. Despite what they say, they will 
override American voters if democracy gets in the way of their latest 
leftwing pet project.
  Democrats know States have democratically decided what their laws on 
abortions are. Now they are trying to override the will of the people 
and the will of the States by using the Federal Government and millions 
of taxpayer dollars to achieve their goal. This is not only counter to 
the spirit of the Hyde amendment, it is contrary to the principles of 
federalism and the will of the American people.
  As I pointed out for months last year with a similar illegal abortion 
policy Secretary Lloyd Austin implemented at the Department of Defense, 
no Agency--no Agency--is above the law. I called out the VA for 
implementing another illegal abortion policy.
  This bill is just another page--another page--out of the Democrats' 
same extreme abortion playbook. This bill is a flimsy attempt to go 
around the law of the land.
  Gone are the days of the Democrats saying abortions should be safe, 
legal, and rare. Democrats today want dangerous, illegal, and limitless 
abortions at any cost--any cost--to the American taxpayers.
  So for that reason, Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  The Senator from Wisconsin.
  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I am disappointed with the objection and 
will agree with the Senator on one point, which is that this bill does 
not fund abortion.
  The Senator referred to democratically passed laws relating to this 
subject, and I just wanted to remind him once more what I said in my 
opening statement: In Wisconsin, women lived for 15 months under a 
criminal abortion ban that was passed in 1849--70 years before women 
had the right to vote, before the Civil War. Obviously women had no 
input in that democratically enacted law.
  But this bill simply breaks down a barrier that Americans are facing 
to access sometimes lifesaving care, a financial barrier, I might add, 
that Republicans put up when they inserted themselves into our exam 
rooms and into women's personal decisions.
  I hope my Republican colleagues understand that women take notice 
when you vote down bills that protect and defend their basic freedoms. 
They see who is fighting for their right to control their bodies, 
health, families, and future.
  I am proud to be standing here today on their behalf. This issue is 
not going away. We are going to keep fighting day in and day out 
because women want their rights and freedoms back.
  Some of my colleagues are claiming that this is merely a messaging 
bill. Well, send Americans the message that you support their decisions 
to make their own healthcare choices and pass this bill into law.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.

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