Joined by her Senate Democratic colleagues, Senator Murray highlighted her strong support for women’s rights to make their own health care decisions, including their constitutionally protected right to safe, legal abortion
Democrats in the House and Senate both introduced resolutions supporting women’s reproductive health care and opposing Republican effort to turn back the clock on reproductive rights
Resolution is part of larger effort as Democrats push back against legislation recently passed in Georgia, Alabama, and other states to undermine women’s access to reproductive health care and overturn Roe v. Wade
Resolution caps day of action on reproductive rights from Senator Murray, including a Senate floor speech denouncing the abortion bans and remarks in front of hundreds of women’s rights advocates at the #StoptheBans rally in Washington D.C.
The D.C. #StoptheBans Rally was one of more than 250 planned gatherings at state capitols and courthouses in all 50 states today, including rallies in Seattle and across Washington State
Senator Murray on the Senate floor: “In a world where women can’t control what happens to their own bodies they are less able to plan their families and stay financially secure and independent. That means they are less free and less equal. Well, I’m not going to stand for that.”
***VIDEO OF SENATOR MURRAY’S FLOOR REMARKS AVAILABLE HERE***
***VIDEO OF SENATOR MURRAY’S RALLY REMARKS AVAILABLE HERE***
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, joined by 43 of her Democratic colleagues in the Senate, stood up for women’s reproductive rights—including the right to safe, legal abortion—and introduced a resolution supporting women’s reproductive rights in Washington state and nationwide. The resolution, which affirms Democrats’ support of women’s access to reproductive health care and women’s right to make their own health care decisions, comes on the heels of legislative efforts in Georgia, Alabama, and other states intended to undermine women’s reproductive rights and ultimately overturn Roe v. Wade. The move was one of many ways people across the country have stood up and spoken out against the efforts to undermine the constitutionally protected right to safe, legal abortion.
The resolution completes a day of action from Senator Murray on the issues of women’s health and reproductive rights. This morning, Senator Murray delivered a speech from the Senate floor opposing the recently passed abortion bans, and reinforcing her strong support for women’s access to health care that helps them plan their families and stay economically secure. Senator Murray then spoke at a rally outside of the Supreme Court, where she joined women, lawmakers, doctors, nurses, and other advocates to defend women’s health and constitutionally protected right to safe, legal abortion in the United States.
A staunch defender of women’s health, Senator Murray has fought diligently against President Trump and Republicans’ repeated attempts to circumvent women’s access to reproductive care. Recently, Senator Murray has spoken out against the Trump administration’s harmful and unethical rule jeopardizing the Title X family planning program, as well as other Republican attacks on women’s health and reproductive rights. As the top Democrat on the Senate health committee, Senator Murray has made women’s reproductive health one of her top priorities, working consistently to defend access to safe, affordable reproductive health care.
Watch Senator Murray’s full floor speech here HERE and read the full version below.
Watch Senator Murray’s full remarks from the #StoptheBans rally HERE and read the full version below.
Read the full resolution HERE.
Senator Murray’s full floor speech:
“Thank you, M. President.
“I want to start by expressing my appreciation to all my colleagues speaking out here today…
“And to the women and men nationwide who are doing the same in their own communities today.
“M. President—in the last few days we have seen some of the most blatant and cruel efforts yet to deny women access to safe, legal abortion…
“We’ve see legislation so extreme that it would even block a twelve-year-old survivor of rape from seeking an abortion…
“And sentence health care providers to prison for providing safe, medically sound care to their patients—which is their responsibility.
“M. President, the extreme politicians behind these cruel abortion bans aren’t stopping in Alabama or Missouri or anywhere else.
“They want to take these bans all the way to the Supreme Court…
“And they want to allow Brett Kavanaugh to do what President Trump and Republicans nominated him to do…
“Roll back the decision in Roe v. Wade that affirmed a woman’s constitutionally protected right to make her own decisions about her own body and health care.
“They’re pushing for this even though they know as well as we do that without this right, women will lose their lives…
“Even though they know just as well as we do that without this right, doctors will be blocked from providing medically appropriate care for their patients, as is their responsibility.
“And M. President, let me be frank.
“Extreme conservatives will push these abortion bans all the way to the Supreme Court even though they know—even perhaps because they know, that in a world where women can’t control what happens to their own bodies…
“They are fundamentally less free and less equal.
“Well, I’m not going to stand for that.
“Senate Democrats aren’t going to either.
“So I am proud to be here with my colleagues today reaffirming what our Constitution confirms is true:
• women have the right to access safe, legal abortion,
• and this makes our country stronger—because women are absolutely critical to our country’s strength.
“I am proud to be making clear that even in the face of relentless attacks on women’s health and rights…
“We aren’t going to back down one bit.
“The truth is that there are certainly extreme politicians around the country who want to take us backward—to the Mad Men era, or honestly quite a bit before that…
“But they aren’t speaking for our country. Quite the opposite.
“In fact, the vast majority of women and men nationwide, from all backgrounds, agree that abortion should be safe and legal just as our Constitution says.
“They’re watching—they are speaking up—and they are absolutely going to remember who stood up to protect women’s health and rights…
“And who pushed to take those rights away.
“Thank you and I yield the floor. ”
Senator Murray’s full #StoptheBans rally remarks:
“Thank you, Destiny—and hello everyone! I’m so proud to be here.
“There’s no getting around it. This is a frightening time.
“The abortion bans we’re seeing across the country—not just in Alabama and Missouri—but in Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, and Georgia, are not just wrong.
“They’re cruel.
“They’re extreme.
“They’re designed to control women’s decisions and criminalize doctors.
“They do the most damage to the patients who have the least resources to fight back.
“And they come even after 400 abortion restrictions have been passed in the last decade alone…
“…all with the goal of eliminating access to safe, legal abortion in our country.
“So, we have a lot of work ahead of us.
“But even though we have a tough fight ahead—I’ve never believed more in the power of women’s voices to make change than I do today.
“When women speak up—change happens. Progress happens.
“And we—especially every single one of you here today—are what’s standing between extreme politicians and the constitutionally protected right to safe, legal abortion…
“…no matter who you are, where you live, or how much money you make.
“That’s what we’re fighting. And I’m sure not going to stop now—are you?
“So let me ask you:
“Are you ready to speak up louder?
“Are you ready to fight back harder?
“Do you believe we can win?
“I do too—I know our country will be stronger for it—and I am so glad to be in this fight with all of you.”
###
English 
Spanish