Abortion

Floor Speech

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Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I come to the floor this afternoon to talk about a court decision that is likely to come down anytime now that could be an attack on abortion rights and access to healthcare across the country. This is an important issue affecting the removal of access to mifepristone, a drug that can lead to a termination of a pregnancy but in the comfort of someone's home. The latest is an example of a radical court in Texas trying to further restrict access to safe and legal medication for abortion, which has been safely used by millions of women over the past 22 years. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer, abortion patients and providers across the country have faced a growing challenge, misinformation, threats, and inability to get reproductive care--even in States like mine where abortion is still legal.

Last week, I and Senator Murray met with abortion providers in Seattle who told me about the growing fear and confusion among patients since Roe has been overturned. The medical director at a clinic told me, in the past 9 months, it has become routine for patients to ask whether it is OK to even talk about abortions in the exam room. Patients have been more hesitant to say where they live in fear of legal retaliation. Mind you, this is in a State where the people in the State voted to have abortion rights protected in a vote in 1991. This assault on women's reproductive health is already having an impact on women, even keeping them from talking about their options with their healthcare providers.

Anti-abortion extremists are now turning their attention to Medicaid abortion. Nearly a quarter of a century ago, the FDA approved mifepristone, a drug that is safer, in some people's minds, it says, than Tylenol. Today, more than half of all abortions and procedures in the United States, including 55 percent of those in the State of Washington, are performed through this medication.

This drug is not only safe and legal to use, but it also makes abortion more accessible, but we know that this access could be threatened through areas like telehealth, where a patient doesn't have to travel long distances to see a provider. The access is important for Planned Parenthood clinics. The medical director of Planned Parenthood told me a story of a patient who traveled thousands of miles from her home State to Washington to get abortion care. She couldn't afford a hotel room, so she stayed with a friend, and the patient had to take off time from work to make this trip. After all this effort, the woman had a miscarriage while waiting in the waiting room.

People shouldn't have to travel all the way across the country just for the kind of healthcare they deserve. This is why the court case on Medicaid abortion is so dangerous. Should one judge in Texas decide to overturn the FDA's approval of this safe drug from more than two decades ago, it would effectively ban the drug on a nationwide basis.

The kinds of things that are already happening to intimidate or not provide this in the pharmacies in our State are alarming. This ruling would mean that every State, including those like mine that have already expressed their opinion with the codification of Roe v. Wade, could have some of its healthcare denied. The ruling would mean that in Washington State, where abortion has expressly been under our State law for more than 30 years, a person who needs or elects to terminate their pregnancy could no longer safely do it at their home if they can't get access to this drug.

Indeed, we will continue to fight for these issues. We want women in America to have access.

This judge's decision in Texas could cost people in our State. It could cost them time to travel, cost them time of healthcare, and certainly we are seeing an uptick in the number of people coming to Washington to get access to care.

We are also seeing people upping the ante in places like Spokane, where they are trying to publicly humiliate people coming to clinics by protesting. This is not a way to run healthcare. And we can't have a judge in Texas deciding what FDA and scientists nearly a quarter of a century ago said was a safe procedure.

We know that this is depriving women even in States where their rights are guaranteed. It is impacting their access to safe and legal abortions. There is a reason why we have an FDA and the science, and we need to continue to listen to them.

Let's be clear. We are not going to let a decision like this go unchallenged. People will not stop getting pregnant. And if this one judge decides to substitute his opinion for the FDA's, women will continue to look for this drug, and they will look for safe options.

I hope we can continue to educate people on how this is affecting people in States that have already voted by law to protect a woman's right to choose. This is eroding our rights, it is impacting our providers, and it is basically telling young women that we are not sure if you are going to be able to get access to this drug.

I hope the courts will not go down this errant path, and I hope that we here will get our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to vote with us to clarify and protect a woman's right to choose at the Federal level.

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