GOP bill would stop VA from providing abortion care to veterans who face medical complications, or are victims of rape or incest
Murray: “These veterans have fought to protect our rights and now Republicans want to roll back theirs. These veterans put their life on the line for us, and now Republicans supporting this resolution want to tell them that when their life is in danger, ‘tough luck, politics comes first.’”
***WATCH: Senator Murray speaks on Senate floor against cutting off abortion access for veterans in need***
***WATCH: Senator Murray speaks against the bill at press conference***
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) and Veterans’ Affairs Committees, led Senate Democrats in speaking on the floor against a Republican bill that would stop the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) for providing abortion care to veterans and their eligible dependents who are facing medical complications, or who are victims of rape or incest.
“Despite the rhetoric from my Republican colleagues, this rule they are trying to overturn is a meaningful, modest step to protect our veterans. It simply allows VA to provide abortion care to ensure that none of our veterans or their eligible dependents go without medical treatment when their life is in danger—or are forced to stay pregnant after a rape or incest.
“That’s it. That is what Republicans are so upset about. They’re upset that this administration has taken action to make sure women who have served our country in uniform can get the basic reproductive care they need when their health is at risk or in cases of rape or incest.
“These veterans have fought to protect our rights and now Republicans want to roll back theirs. These veterans put their life on the line for us, and now Republicans supporting this resolution want to tell them that when their life is in danger, ‘tough luck, politics comes first.’ No one deserves that.
“So I urge all of my colleagues, stand with our veterans, stand with their families, and vote against this unthinkably cruel bill that seeks to force women veterans to stay pregnant—even when their life is at risk, even after rape or incest.”
Senators Murray, Hirono (D-HI), Warren (D-MA), and Duckworth (D-IL) led Democrats in calling on the VA to provide abortion care to veterans last July. Senator Murray applauded the Biden Administration’s announcement later in the year that it would allow VA to provide abortion care for veterans and their eligible dependents to protect the health and life of the mother and in cases of rape or incest and has called out Republicans for their attacks on the policy. Senator Murray spoke against Republicans’ bill to undo the VA policy at a press conference earlier today as well.
“I have served on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee for a very long time. I was in fact the first woman to sit on the committee and the first woman to chair the committee. When I first came to the Senate, I asked specifically to be on that committee because my dad was a veteran. And I grew up with a deep respect for the sacrifices that our veterans make. And I take my responsibility to be a voice for our Washington state veterans very seriously,” Senator Murray said at the press conference. “So, my message to my colleagues ahead of this vote today: You can vote for this bill, but if you do—you are telling Americans everywhere in this country that the Republican party—unequivocally—wants to force women veterans to stay pregnant—even when their life is at risk or in the case of rape or incest. That is heinous. We will not stand for it. We are fighting back. We will not let anyone forget.”
Senator Murray’s floor remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:
“Thank you, M. President.
“Ever since Republicans succeeded in overturning Roe v. Wade and ripping abortion rights away from millions of women, they’ve been trying to hide how extreme their positions on abortion are and how devastating the fallout has been for families—even as each day brings a new horror, driven by Republicans’ extremism. Like the dystopian bill put forward in South Carolina which proposed the death penalty for women who get an abortion.
“Keep in mind, amid all of this, one of my colleagues recently said that as President he would quote ‘literally sign the most conservative pro-life legislation.’
“And let’s not forget the terrifying lawsuit in Texas hanging over the entire country where Republican extremists want to overrule FDA’s experts, undermine its authority to review and approve all manner of drugs—from chemotherapy to insulin, and take the abortion pill mifepristone away from patients all across the country—even in states like mine where abortion is still legal and even though we have twenty years of data showing this drug is safe and effective.
“Yet, when the district judge issued a dangerous ruling that would rip this drug off the shelf, 69 Congressional Republicans filed a brief calling for that ruling to go into effect—to deny women in every single state access to this FDA-approved medication.
“The Supreme Court has stayed the decision for the time being—but this threat to women’s ability to get this drug is as real as ever. And now 147 Congressional Republicans—many Republicans in leadership, Republicans with oversight authority over FDA—have filed a brief opposing our efforts to protect access to mifepristone and protect FDA authority. And this extreme lawsuit is far from the only dangerous anti-abortion policy Congressional Republicans are pushing—as the bill we are voting on today makes clear.
“M. President, it’s been incredibly infuriating for women to be told by Republicans that we are over-reacting or fearmongering, even as we are being told by patients and providers about the nightmare they are living in, about the impossible decisions they have had to make, and about the decisions—the deeply personal decisions—that they have not been allowed to make, that Republican politicians are instead making for them.
“It strains belief that Republicans actually think victims of rape or incest aren’t being affected by their policies and that women whose health—whose lives—are in danger are not facing any barriers or being denied the care they need. Especially when we see new stories reported almost every day, showing that is simply not the case—stories that show women are being put in horrific, unthinkable situations, forced to travel absurd distances for care after they were raped, forced to wait, and bleed, and get sicker and sicker before they can get the care they desperately need.
“But even if Republicans are ignoring the devastation state abortion bans are causing, and ignoring women who are speaking out every single day, what we are talking about today, is a bill Congressional Republicans wrote themselves. And it really puts an end, once and for all, to Republicans’ empty claims that they are being moderate in any way here, that victims of rape, or women with medical complications aren’t being hurt.
“Because this bill, which Republicans wrote, which Republicans are coming to the floor advocating for, would cut veterans and their families off from care when their lives are in danger and would cut them off from care after rape or incest.
“Make no mistake, that is what this debate is about. That is what they are voting for.
“And in arguing for this bill, Republicans are also showing they know full well how extreme the state bans actually are.
“After all, Republicans cannot pretend, on one hand, that state abortions bans have meaningful exceptions for women with life threatening complications, for people who have been raped—including children—while also arguing, on the other hand, it defies state laws to allow VA to provide care in those heartbreaking situations.
“Those arguments contradict each other. And more importantly—those claims contradict the real, heartbreaking stories we are already hearing from women and doctors about how these bans are putting lives at risk.
“Extreme abortion bans are causing health care crises all across the country, along with so many personal crises for families facing incredibly difficult situations.
“Which is why the VA care rule President Biden put forward is so important, and why Democrats are standing firm to keep it intact.
“Despite the rhetoric from my Republican colleagues, this rule they are trying to overturn is a meaningful, modest step to protect our veterans…
“It simply allows the VA to provide abortion care to ensure that none of our veterans or their eligible dependents go without medical treatment when their life is in danger—or are forced to stay pregnant after a rape or incest.
“That’s it. That is what Republicans are so upset about.
“They’re upset that this administration has taken action to make sure women who have served our country in uniform can get the basic reproductive care they need when their health is at risk or in cases of rape or incest.
“These veterans have fought to protect our rights and now Republicans want to roll back theirs.
“These veterans put their life on the line for us, and now Republicans supporting this resolution want to tell them that when their life is in danger, ‘tough luck, politics comes first.’
“No one deserves that.
“So I urge all of my colleagues, stand with our veterans, stand with their families, and vote against this unthinkably cruel bill that seeks to force women veterans to stay pregnant—even when their life is at risk, even after rape or incest.”
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