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Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, to recap, we just tried to pass some very straightforward legislation: a bill to protect a woman's right to travel across State lines to get the healthcare she needs, a bill to protect a doctor's right to provide legal abortion care to their patients without being threatened by an out-of-State extremist, and a bill to ensure more health professionals can receive critical training in comprehensive reproductive healthcare to help meet the dire need for providers.

Not a single one of these bills should be controversial. To oppose these bills, as Republicans have just done, is truly extreme. Are we going to let politicians hold women who want an abortion captive in their States? Seriously. If a woman wants to travel somewhere so she can make her own personal decision about her healthcare, are Republicans going to tie her hands? And if a doctor in a State like mine, where abortion is fully legal and even protected by our State constitution--if our doctors treat a patient from somewhere like Idaho--something that happens every day, by the way--do we want to let out-of-State extremist politicians threaten and try to punish them?

Again, we are talking about healthcare providers performing an abortion in a State where abortion is legal and protected. Republicans are all for States' rights until it comes to letting a woman make her own healthcare decisions.

When it comes to training, let's be clear: Abortion is healthcare, and in some cases, a patient's life may depend on whether they can get that care or not. That is why we need to make sure that every provider can get the comprehensive reproductive health training that they need by supporting medical training programs that are doing this important work.

It is incredibly frustrating to me that, so far, Republicans have blocked these proposals from moving forward. It seems, when it comes to an abortion, there is no bill too simple for Republicans to oppose. There is no right too basic for Republicans to attack and no problem too important for Republicans to ignore.

Republicans haven't just voted down our efforts to restore abortion rights in every State, they have voted against the right to birth control; they have voted against the right to IVF; and now they have opposed letting patients leave their States for care, letting doctors provide legal care to anyone who comes to them, and helping healthcare providers get the training they need to save a life.

But let's be clear: No matter this outcome, no matter how far Republicans follow the most extreme anti-abortion voices in their party, Democrats are going to keep standing against them, pushing for reproductive rights, and fighting for patients.

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