ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on Supreme Court Staying Unprecedented Attack on Medication Abortion and FDA’s Ability to Do Its Job
Washington DC – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and U.S. Representative Kim Schrier, M.D. (D-WA-08) reintroduced legislation to protect abortion providers in states like Washington—where abortion remains legal—from Republicans’ attempts to restrict their practice and create uncertainty about their legal liability.
El Ley para que los médicos brinden atención de la salud reproductiva would ensure that doctors can continue to safely provide legal abortion care and protect health care providers from being held liable for providing services to patients from other states. U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and U.S. Representatives Ami Bera, M.D. (D-CA-06), Raul Ruiz, M.D. (D-CA-25), and Yadira Caraveo, M.D. (CO-08) joined Murray and Schrier in introducing the legislation today.
“MAGA Republicans’ nonstop attacks on a woman’s right to choose have created a climate of fear, confusion, and suffering—and have had a chilling effect on the lifesaving work abortion providers do even in states where abortion remains legal,” dijo el senador Murray. “Our bill is a necessary and commonsense step to protect doctors providing legal abortion care and ensure that doctors in states like Washington can continue to provide essential care without being threatened with jail time or lawsuits by out-of-state extremists.”
“Whether or not to become a mother is the most important decision a woman ever makes. As a doctor, I understand the immense health risks that come with a pregnancy and know that access to reproductive health care is an essential part of women’s health,” dijo el representante Schrier. “In the past year, following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, millions of women have had the right to choose stripped away. Now, certain states are taking it a step further by targeting health care professionals who practice in states where abortion is still legal. This bill protects women and doctors from unjust prosecution and ensures that patients and their doctors are the ones making personal medical decisions, not the government.”
El Ley para que los médicos brinden atención de la salud reproductiva se asegurará de que los proveedores en los estados donde el aborto sigue siendo legal estén protegidos de cualquier intento de restringir su práctica o crear incertidumbre sobre su responsabilidad legal. Específicamente, el proyecto de ley:
- Proteger a los proveedores de atención médica en los estados donde el aborto es legal de estar sujetos a leyes que intentan evitar que brinden servicios de salud reproductiva o hacerlos responsables de brindar esos servicios a pacientes de cualquier otro estado. Estas protecciones podrían hacerse cumplir mediante una demanda federal del Departamento de Justicia, un paciente o un proveedor, asegurando que un futuro Departamento de Justicia no pueda hacer la vista gorda ante las leyes estatales que violan estas protecciones;
- Prohibir que se utilicen fondos federales para entablar casos legales contra personas que acceden a servicios legales de atención de la salud reproductiva o contra proveedores de atención médica en estados donde el aborto es legal;
- Crear un nuevo programa de subvenciones en el Departamento de Justicia para financiar asistencia legal o educación legal para proveedores de servicios de salud reproductiva;
- Crear un nuevo programa de subvenciones en el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos para ayudar a los proveedores de servicios de salud reproductiva a obtener actualizaciones de seguridad física, cibernética o de privacidad de datos necesarias para proteger su práctica y sus pacientes; y
- Protect reproductive health care providers from being denied professional liability insurance coverage solely because of legal health services offered to patients.
In addition to Senators Murray, Luján, Padilla, and Rosen, and Reps. Schrier, Bera, Ruiz, and Caraveo, the legislation is also co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The legislation has been endorsed by: Physicians for Reproductive Health, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, National Partnership for Women & Families, Power to Decide, National Council of Jewish Women, National Women’s Law Center, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and NARAL.
Read the full text of the legislation aquí and a one-pager aquí.
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