[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3182-S3183]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



              Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. President, I rise today to address the events that 
took place exactly 4 years ago today when the Supreme Court ruled on 
Dobbs v. Jackson, overturning Roe v. Wade, stripping away reproductive 
rights for women that we have relied upon for generations.
  That decision sent shock waves through the country. Something that 
many of us, women of my age, relied upon for our entire lives were 
certainly and suddenly not available to our kids and our grandkids. And 
as States like Michigan were looking into the reality of a full 
abortion ban, we had to get to work.
  In Michigan, we had a 1931 abortion ban which banned abortions even 
in the cases of rape and incest. It criminalized nurses and doctors who 
provided such care, and it was slated to become law again in the wake 
of the Dobbs decision.
  In the face of that, Michiganders went to work; that is what we do. 
We rally together. We got over 700,000 signatures in the better part of 
10 weeks. We organized getting on to our ballot a vote on reproductive 
freedom including abortion care for our State; and we did this so that 
women and girls that come after us were in control of their 
reproductive lives, not politicians and certainly not anyone in this 
body.
  Now, the examples of who this affected are legion, but let me just 
focus on one woman Sarah from Byron Center, MI. Sarah had already had 
four miscarriages but was filled with so much hope for her fifth 
pregnancy. Unfortunately, after 19 weeks she received a devastating 
call from her doctor that she had a baby dying inside of her. 
Thankfully, Sarah was able to get the abortion care she needed from her 
doctor so she wouldn't be exposed to life-threatening bacteria and 
infections which could have killed her.
  Right now in States across the country when other women face this 
same reality, they are told to wait. They are told to hope they don't 
get an infection, and they hope they are not left to die.
  Even worse, mothers are dying of preventable deaths, leaving their 
children without a parent, all because of politics and reversing Roe v. 
Wade 4 years ago today. Now just because the story is 4 years old 
doesn't mean it is over. Women continue to face a two-front war to get 
access to abortion care, even in a State like Michigan. Access to care 
and the cost of care is still inhibiting who has access to reproductive 
care.
  More than a dozen States across the country have a total ban on 
abortion, and the people in this Chamber and around this town continue 
to chip away at women's access everywhere they turn. Women are 
struggling to get access to healthcare via telehealth. Families are 
struggling to access contraception and plan for their futures. Doctors 
are being criminalized for doing their jobs. Cuts to healthcare, cuts 
to Planned Parenthood have forced organizations to shut their doors, 
and politicians who can't outlaw abortion nationwide are trying to 
outlaw abortion medication, which is how a full half of women get their 
abortions.
  All of this comes with a cost, expensive bills, traveling long 
distances, and adds risk to people's health. The Dobbs decision was a 
cautionary tale. Even though the Supreme Court allowed abortion over 50 
years ago, this body decided not to act. We never legislated a woman's 
right to choose.
  Our grandparents should have taken action on this issue, and we would 
have reproductive freedom now across the country if we had done so. I 
think it is an important tale for what this body can and cannot do, 
what it should and should not do.
  It certainly has incredible consequences. So I just wanted to 
recognize on the 4-year anniversary of the reversal of Roe v. Wade 
where we are and that the fight continues.

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