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Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, families are looking to us to solve problems. They are looking at us to lower prices. They are looking for help getting food on the table or getting childcare or getting their prescriptions filled. But what they are seeing instead, today, is Republicans lying about women, lying about healthcare, and lying about the tragic realities that families face when they learn that their baby has a fatal diagnosis and cannot survive long after birth.

Of all the bills that we could be voting on right now, it is an absolute disgrace that Republicans are spending their first weeks in power attacking women, criminalizing doctors, and lying about abortion.

This bill would create a new government mandate that would override the best judgment of grieving families who find out their fetus has a fatal condition. And it would create new, medically unnecessary barriers for doctors and patients, at a time when doctors already have their hands tied when it comes to providing basic reproductive healthcare.

Republicans' whole premise on this bill is a sham. Their whole bill is a disgrace, and we are here on the floor today to call it out.

I am not going to let anyone perpetuate the so-called ``abortion until birth'' myths and lies about people who have abortions and the providers who care for them. That is not how abortion works, and Republicans know it.

Killing a baby is already illegal in every single State. In fact, we passed a law in 2002 that made that crystal clear. I would know because I was here. It passed unanimously. Doctors already have a legal obligation to provide appropriate medical care to any infant born in this country.

And let's be clear: We already know Republicans' sham bill is not going to go anywhere, by the way. We have been here before. After all, Republicans held a vote on this bill a few years ago, and not a single Democrat who is still in the Senate today voted for it.

The last time we voted on this bill, I spoke about something Republicans refused to acknowledge in this debate: the actual voices and experiences of women who receive a heartbreaking diagnosis late in pregnancy, what they actually go through, and how this bill would hurt them and their families.

I spoke then about Judy. She is from Washington State. Her son's organs did not develop properly. One lung was 20 percent formed, and the other was missing entirely.

I spoke about Lindsay. Her daughter had an aggressive, inoperable tumor growing into her brain, her heart, and her lungs.

I spoke about Darla. One of her twins had serious medical complications. Not terminating that pregnancy would have put her other twin's health at risk. How you ignore something like that I will never understand. But instead Republicans are talking about things that simply do not happen.

However, I have a different story to share today. You see, the last time I shared those stories of women who were able to make the choice that was right for their family, but the stories now are of women who were denied that choice. And that is because Republicans have ripped away abortion rights, and State abortion bans have forced some women into the kind of nightmare Republicans are now seeking to take nationwide.

In Florida, Deborah learned, at 23 weeks, her baby had no kidneys, and it would not survive after birth. She felt an abortion was the right step for her family. But Florida gave her no choice about what happened next. They forced her to carry a doomed pregnancy for months.

Do you know what it is like to go for months, pregnant with a baby you know will not survive, and getting questions and comments like: Oh, is this your first child? Are you excited?

Do you know what it is like fighting back tears as you try to decide whether to just nod politely or explain that, actually, your world is falling apart and, all the while, knowing you have to go through all of this against your will because some politician decided they knew better?

Deborah avoided going out. She was afraid to go to the grocery store. And she said:

I just went into a really dark place, you know, essentially planning my son's birth and funeral at the same time.

That is what abortion bans do. That is what happens when we take choice away from patients, when Republicans decide they know better.

And Deborah is far from the only woman to go through this. Infant deaths from birth defects jumped in Florida following their abortion ban.

Now, Republicans have a bill here to take that issue nationwide. That is what we are voting on here tomorrow. That is their top priority, now that Trump is in office. And not only are they trying to take that abortion heartbreak nationwide, they are lying about what is at stake here and lying about what women like Deborah are going through, what their own policies will cause more women to go through.

Shame on them. This is infuriating.

Women like Deborah may not be billionaires, but they should still have their voices heard. And as long as I am here, they will be.

So here is my message for Republicans: Families don't need less choice about how to handle tragic medical news. What families actually need is affordable groceries. What families actually need is childcare. What they actually need is paid leave, quality healthcare, access to programs like SNAP and Medicaid, which Republicans want to cut to the bone.

Now, I can't predict what attack Republicans will launch on abortion next, but I can promise we will be here to call them out, both for what they are trying to do--lie about women and doctors--and for everything they are failing to do--lowering costs and making life easier for folks back home.

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