During remarks on the Senate floor, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) debated Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) over a bill on abortion access.
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NewsTranscript
00:00A world in which daughters have fewer rights than their mothers and their grandmothers
00:07did at their age.
00:08In the two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, nearly half the states in our country
00:14have banned or effectively banned access to abortion.
00:19Women in those states have extremely limited options for accessing essential health care.
00:25For many of these women, their only option for getting the reproductive care they need
00:30is going to another state.
00:32Last year alone, 171,000 Americans traveled across state lines to access an abortion.
00:42Pro-choice states like Nevada are welcoming these women with open arms and providing them
00:48with the essential health care their own states have outlawed.
00:52In the last two years, the number of women coming to southern Nevada from out-of-state
00:56to get abortion care has doubled.
01:00But even though Nevada is a safe place for women who need health care, anti-choice politicians
01:06living outside my state are telling women, no, sorry, if you try to travel outside this
01:14state, we're going to prosecute anyone who helps you.
01:19Nevada officials in states like Tennessee, Texas, and Alabama are trying to punish women
01:26for leaving their state for reproductive care, as well as anyone who helps them, including
01:32their doctors or even their employers.
01:36Why?
01:37Because for these anti-choice politicians, this is about controlling women.
01:42That is why today, I am calling for passage of my Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act.
01:49Our legislation reaffirms that women have fundamental right to interstate travel and
01:53makes it crystal clear states cannot prosecute women or anyone who helps them from going
02:00to another state to get the critical reproductive care that they need.
02:05The Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act would also empower the Attorney General and
02:11anyone impacted to sue the anti-choice politicians who have violated their rights and put these
02:18barbaric restrictions in place.
02:22And it would protect health care providers in pro-choice states like mine in Nevada who
02:28help these women traveling from out of state.
02:31Now, I wrote this bill two years ago after the fall of Roe v. Wade because, like many
02:37women across the country, I could see that the anti-choice movement would never stop
02:43trying to dismantle women's rights.
02:45And we're seeing that played out before our very eyes.
02:48We're hearing it today on the floor.
02:49We see it in our states.
02:52Last month, Lauren Miller came here to Washington to testify in a Senate subcommittee hearing
02:59and tell her story.
03:01Lauren was a mother of one and was thrilled to find out that she was pregnant once again,
03:06this time with twins.
03:08She and her husband couldn't wait to grow their family.
03:11But at her 12-week ultrasound, Lauren learned the most devastating news.
03:17Half of one of her twins' brains was filled with fluid, and it was not going to survive.
03:24Lauren needed to abort this fetus to save the other viable twin and to protect her own
03:30life.
03:31The problem was, Lauren lived in Texas, where abortions are almost entirely banned.
03:39Lauren's doctors wouldn't even talk to her about having a life-saving abortion because
03:45they were so afraid of Texas' intentionally confusing laws, and they did not want to be
03:50prosecuted for practicing medicine to help her.
03:56In her testimony, Lauren said, and I quote,
04:00My pregnancy was not my own.
04:02It belonged to the state.
04:05Even after she ended up in the hospital at risk of organ damage to her kidneys and her
04:09brain, she still could not get the care that she needed.
04:16Lauren was forced to set aside several days and thousands of dollars while she was terribly
04:21ill so that she could fly to Colorado just to access reproductive health care, just to
04:28access 21st century medicine.
04:31And if that wasn't enough of a burden, Lauren and her husband were terrified to travel out
04:38of state because of Texas' bounty laws.
04:41In Texas, private citizens can be paid by their government if they catch anyone who
04:48has helped someone access abortion care.
04:51Oklahoma has adopted a similar law.
04:53This is what happens when we give it to the states.
04:57This is what happened with the overturn of Rovers.
04:58This is what we, when we're talking about states' rights, this is it.
05:02These laws mean people seeking abortions have to plan for their out-of-state travel as if
05:07they're doing something illegal.
05:10Lauren and her husband had conversations about whether they should leave their cell phones
05:13at home and only use cash so they couldn't be tracked in this day and age, like they
05:19were criminals of some sort.
05:22All because Lauren was dying from an entirely preventable health issue that she couldn't
05:28get care for in her own state.
05:34When my colleagues and I first introduced the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act,
05:39anti-choice Republicans told us we were getting worked up over nothing.
05:46When we introduced and reintroduced it last year, anti-choice Republicans still told us
05:51we were overreaching.
05:54Anti-choice Republicans' main argument continues to be that it's just not necessary,
05:59that we're being hysterical, that we need to calm down.
06:06Lauren Miller and her husband weren't being hysterical.
06:10She and her healthy son are living proof that we need to protect a woman's right to travel
06:16across state lines for abortion care.
06:21My anti-choice colleagues can pretend this isn't happening right under their noses, but
06:26women across this country know the truth.
06:30Anti-choice politicians want to control women.
06:32They don't want women leaving the confines of their states with abortion bans, and they
06:36don't want us to have bodily autonomy.
06:39Well, I stand with the vast majority of Americans who believe that politicians have no say in
06:46a woman's health care decisions.
06:49Women like Lauren Miller deserve access to life-saving care, regardless of the state
06:55they live in.
06:56That's why we must pass the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act now.
07:02This is common-sense legislation to uphold a woman's constitutional right and freedom
07:08to interstate travel for health care.
07:14So Mr. President, as if in legislative session, and notwithstanding Rule 22, I ask unanimous
07:20consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 2053, the
07:26Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act of 2023, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
07:32Further, the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider
07:36be considered made and laid upon the table.
07:39Is there objection?
07:40Mr. President?
07:42Senator from Mississippi.
07:44Reserving the right to object, Mr. President, my pro-life colleagues and I most certainly
07:49do not oppose any individual's freedom to travel across this great country.
07:54But we do take issue with this effort to give bad actors cover from prosecution.
08:01While this bill poses as protecting pregnant women from prosecution, it would actually
08:06put vulnerable women and girls in harm's way if it became law.
08:12This would allow traffickers and abusive partners, parents, or relatives to take vulnerable
08:17women and girls across state lines to obtain abortions in an attempt to cover up their
08:23abuse.
08:25These same abusers would also be given the freedom to travel across state lines to stockpile
08:30dangerous chemical abortion drugs to bring back to a life-affirming state.
08:36The chemical abortion regimen can pose traumatic complications that a woman or girl should
08:42never have to deal with, especially without medical care at her home.
08:47According to the FDA's own label, these abortion drugs send roughly 1 in 25 women to the emergency
08:54room.
08:56With this legislation effort before us, we see pro-abortion advocates promoting the scariest
09:01possible scenario by allowing a teenage girl to start the chemical abortion process across
09:07state lines with methuprestone, only to be sent back to her home state to deal with the
09:14physically and emotionally painful process alone.
09:18We can and must do far better to protect women and girls from this heartbreaking and dangerous
09:23situation, and we certainly should not be shielding bad actors from prosecution.
09:30It is for these reasons that I must object.
09:34Objection is heard.
09:35Mr. President.
09:37Senator from Nevada.
09:38So, one, let's just be very clear.
09:40This legislation has nothing to do with shielding bad actors.
09:42And number two, methuprestone is a safe and effective drug and has been for over 50 years.
09:48So for my colleagues who have been on this path to limit access to health care for women
09:55for the reproductive freedom right, to claim and make this misinformation and these scare
10:01tactics when they are not true does not do right by women.
10:05Let me just say this.
10:06A majority of this country, including men, including Democrats, Republicans, nonpartisans,
10:13support the right of a woman to choose.
10:16That's what this is about, continuing to fight for those rights.
10:20A woman should have the freedom to access 21st century health care.
10:25Giving it to the states to make this decision is still giving it to elected officials to
10:28be in the room with women when they're making this decision.
10:30That is not the answer.
10:33But until we can overturn Roe v. Wade, we need legislation that's going to protect women
10:37so they can access this 21st medicine medication when they need it and come to states like
10:43mine without being the fear of being prosecuted and the doctors need to be protected.
10:51That's what this is about.
10:52And it will always be about giving the freedom to women for their access to health care in
10:57this country.
10:58And I will tell you this.
10:59My colleagues and I will never stop fighting for this.
11:02It is too important for our children, our young girls and their future.
11:07I yield the floor.
11:11From Washington.
11:12Mr. President, so to recap, we just tried to pass some very straightforward legislation.
11:20A bill to protect a woman's right to travel across state lines to get the health care
11:25she needs.
11:26A bill to protect a doctor's right to provide legal abortion care to their patients without
11:33being threatened by an out-of-state extremist.
11:37And a bill to ensure more health professionals can receive critical training in comprehensive
11:43reproductive health care to help meet the dire need for providers.
11:49Not a single one of these bills should be controversial.
11:52To oppose these bills, as Republicans have just done, is truly extreme.
11:58Are we going to let politicians hold women who want an abortion captive in their states?
12:06Seriously.
12:07If a woman wants to travel somewhere so she can make her own personal decision about her
12:13health care, are Republicans going to tie her hands?
12:18And if a doctor in a state like mine where abortion is fully legal and even protected
12:24by our state constitution, if our doctors treat a patient from somewhere like Idaho,
12:30something that happens every day, by the way, do we want to let out-of-state extremist politicians
12:36threaten and try to punish them?
12:38Again, we are talking about health care providers performing an abortion in a state where abortion
12:45is legal and protected.
12:49Republicans are all for states' rights until it comes to letting a woman make their own
12:53health care decisions.
12:55And when it comes to training, let's be clear, abortion is health care.
13:00And in some cases, a patient's life may depend on whether they can get that care or not.
13:06That is why we need to make sure every provider can get the comprehensive reproductive health
13:12training that they need by supporting medical training programs that are doing this important
13:18work.
13:19It is incredibly frustrating to me that so far, Republicans have blocked these proposals
13:24from moving forward.
13:26It seems when it comes to an abortion, there is no bill too simple for Republicans to oppose.
13:32There's no right too basic for Republicans to attack.
13:37And no problem too important for Republicans to ignore.
13:42Republicans haven't just voted down our efforts to restore abortion rights in every state.
13:47They have voted against the right to birth control.
13:51They have voted against the right to IVF.
13:54And now they have opposed letting patients leave their state for care.
13:59Letting doctors provide legal care to anyone who comes to them.
14:04And helping health care providers get the training they need to save a life.
14:08But let's be clear, no matter this outcome, no matter how far Republicans follow the most
14:14extreme anti-abortion voices in their party, Democrats are going to keep standing against
14:21them, pushing for reproductive rights, and fighting for patients.