Republican Senator Blocks Bill to Protect Doctors Providing Legal Abortion Care--Even As Republicans Push National Ban Punishing Doctors

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), took to the Senate floor to seek unanimous consent to pass her Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act to protect doctors' ability to safely provide abortion care in states where it remains legal.

But just one week after Republicans introduced a national abortion ban that would punish doctors with up to five years in jail for providing abortion care, Republican Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) once again blocked the commonsense, urgently-needed legislation.

"Last week, Republicans made clear that despite the clear outcry from people across the country, overturning Roe was just their first step. Republicans want a national abortion ban. Republicans want to force my constituents to stay pregnant even when they don't want to be, and go after the doctors who provide abortion care," Senator Murray said on the floor. "This legislation is so straightforward: it protects doctors providing legal abortion care, and ensures they can practice medicine and save lives without fear of legal threats and intimidation."

After Senator Braun blocked the legislation, Senator Murray said: "Republicans continue to show their true, harsh colors, and the contrast with Democrats could not be more stark. We want to help people get health care and let them make their own medical decisions. Republicans want to ban abortion nationwide. We want to protect doctors. Republicans want to threaten, penalize, or even jail them for doing their job, even when they are following their state's laws."

Senator Murray introduced the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act alongside Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and 28 of their Democratic colleagues in August. The legislation would help protect against Republicans' attacks, ensuring that providers in states where abortion remains legal are protected from any efforts to restrict their practice or create uncertainty about their legal liability.

In the weeks since Roe was overturned, Senator Murray has fought to pass key protections to safeguard Americans' fundamental rights--pushing to advance commonsense legislation to protect the right to contraception, protect every American's right to travel, protect doctors' right to provide legal abortion care, and expand our national family planning program. But at every turn, Senate Republicans have stood in the way, blocking every single bill.

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