Disapproving the Action of the District of Columbia Council in Approving the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today, on International Women's Day, to urge my Republican colleagues to join us in protecting our individual rights and freedoms and to support the Women's Health Protection Act.

You have heard from a lot of us on the floor today, and we are going to repeat certain things, but these are things that bear repeating because this issue of abortion is all about who gets to decide. Is it the individual or a bunch of politicians? You can see where I am coming from. When the rightwing, ideologically driven Supreme Court overturned nearly 50 years of precedent of abolishing an individual's right to get an abortion, that was just the beginning. The Dobbs decision opened the doors for extremist Republicans who have made clear they will stop at nothing to control our bodies.

It hasn't even been a year since the Supreme Court upended our right to bodily autonomy, and, already, abortion is entirely banned in 12 States, meaning more than 20 percent of the U.S. population lives in States where abortion is illegal. There are 21 States that have enacted 36 bills to restrict or ban abortion; and in 12 States, constitutional amendments have been proposed to limit abortion access. Just this week, Florida Republicans filed a 6-week abortion ban--6 weeks--which is before many women are even aware they are pregnant.

After the Dobbs decision, the Republicans claimed abortion would be dealt with in the States as States' rights. This is what we in Hawaii would call a shibai argument. Clearly, abortion has never been about States' rights. So their unrelenting efforts to limit bodily autonomy is about taking away the very individual rights and freedoms that Republicans claim to care so much about.

Beyond State legislatures, Republicans in the Senate have introduced a nationwide abortion ban. Any day now, we are waiting for one extremist, Trump-appointed Federal judge in Texas to decide whether to institute a nationwide ban on mifepristone, which is the safe and effective medication that Americans have relied on for more than 20 years--for more than two decades--and that accounts for more than half of the abortions in our country.

Regardless of this decision in Texas, after threats from GOP Attorneys General from 20--20--conservative States, Walgreens stated they would no longer dispense medication abortion pills in numerous States, including in States where medical abortion remains legal, although they now appear to be walking that back after provoking a public outcry. What is next--banning contraception? There are even Republican State lawmakers who are introducing bills to allow the death penalty--the death penalty--for women who have abortions.

There is no end to what extremist Republicans will do to control our bodies. Whether you live in States like Hawaii, California, or New York, or in States where Republican legislatures have already passed laws, our freedom is at risk. Our bodily autonomy is at risk. For pregnant people across the country, that means their health, and even their lives, are at stake.

Pregnancies carry many risks, and the United States already has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed country. It is unbelievable that a country like the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. These risks are even greater for women of color, women with disabilities, and transgender and gender nonconforming individuals. People will die without access to safe, legal abortions. A recent study found, if Republicans institute a nationwide abortion ban, maternal deaths will rise by 24 percent across the country.

So, today, I urge my colleagues to stop pandering to the political extremism in our country and join us in passing the Women's Health Protection Act to codify the right to an abortion in Federal law and protect all people across the country.

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