Scarper Ridge Golden Gate National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I would be happy to yield to my colleague from New Hampshire Mrs. Shaheen if she would like to go before me.

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, for 125 years, women have bravely served in our Armed Forces, risking their lives to defend our country and to protect our national security.

Today, more than 2 million--2 million--women veterans live in the United States--women Trump has ignored. Basically, he has turned his back on them by denying them access to abortion care and counseling.

Abortion care is critical care, often lifesaving healthcare, as noted by my colleague just now. That is why, after the Supreme Court's disastrous Dobbs decision, the VA responded by enabling women veterans to access abortion counseling and care.

But last December, the VA, under different leadership and thinking they could get away with it, quietly implemented a near-total abortion ban at the VA even in cases of rape, incest, or when a pregnancy endangers the veteran's life. It is not an exaggeration to call this change in VA policy yet another front in Trump's war on women.

Over 450,000 of the women veterans of reproductive age who receive VA care live in States with abortion bans or restrictions. Because of Trump's extreme policy, these women are now out of options and with nowhere to turn, in reality, for abortion care. These are veterans, as I mentioned, who bravely risk their lives for our country, who have the expectation that their country will take care of them when they return to civilian life--not so under this regime. Instead, the Agency tasked with ensuring the health of our veterans is willfully risking their health and lives all because of its ideological agenda.

We owe it to our women veterans and all veterans to provide them with the healthcare they need and earn, not to mention deserve. That is why Senate Democrats have introduced legislation to overturn this life- threatening policy at the VA and restore access to the care our veterans deserve.

Tonight, every Senator will go on the record to make clear whether they care more about the well-being of our veterans or the political cruelty of Donald Trump. As the regime attempts to score cheap political points and place the lives of thousands of women at risk, I urge my colleagues to join in restoring access to essential healthcare for these veterans.

I want to add to the examples provided by my colleague Senator Blumenthal. Our women veterans, in their service to our country, are exposed to toxic fumes and other environmental and surface conditions that require comprehensive healthcare. As I mentioned, they are exposed to conditions that maybe in the normal course, other women who are not in our services are exposed to. So our women veterans require comprehensive healthcare, and that is what we are asking for. Of course, that care includes abortion care.

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