Hire More Heroes Act of 2013 -- Motion to Proceed -- Continued

Floor Speech

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Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, today the senior Senator from South Carolina and his Republican colleagues have proposed a measure which amounts, in my opinion, to an attack on the freedom of American women to make their own personal health care decisions. Instead of focusing on improving access to health care for women, these Senators are pursuing divisive policies that jeopardize women's health and put politicians and government between a woman and her doctor.

I object to this dangerous political game. Women's access to quality health care is not a political game for me and some of my colleagues who join me here today, nor is it a game for women and families across the country and in my home State of Wisconsin. Too many States have enacted record numbers of laws that restrict women's access to reproductive health services and the freedom to make their own health care decisions. These restrictions, such as the one we heard proposed earlier this afternoon, have real and serious consequences for American families.

I recently heard from a mother in Middleton, WI, who at 20 weeks of pregnancy was devastated to find out that her baby would not survive delivery. She had to undergo an emergency termination. A clinic in Milwaukee, WI, was the only place that would do the procedure, but because our Republican Governor was preparing to sign a law imposing some incredible requirements and burdens on providers, this particular clinic was preparing to close its doors and they wouldn't schedule her for an appointment. She and her husband were forced to find childcare for their two sons and travel to another State in order to get the medical care she needed.

The threat in Wisconsin and in States across the country is clear: When politicians play doctor, American families suffer. This is why my good friend from Connecticut Senator Blumenthal and I have introduced a serious proposal--the Women's Health
Protection Act. It would put a stop to these attacks on women's freedom. Our bill creates Federal protections against restrictions such as the Republican proposal we were hearing about today, proposals that unduly limit access to reproductive health care, that do nothing to further women's health or safety, and that intrude upon personal decisionmaking. I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance this important legislation through the committee process and through regular order.

We know today's spectacle is not meant to produce a serious debate about protecting women's reproductive health; it is about the narrow Republican agenda to take our country backward and to roll back important health benefits for American families.

We have seen this with the numerous failed attempts by Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act that have empowered millions of women with more choices and stronger health care coverage. Today, women can finally rest assured that they will not be charged more for their coverage just because they are women, and someone's mother can get a lifesaving mammogram without the fear of high medical bills.

Over 50 times congressional Republicans have tried to roll back this economic security for millions of American families. Republicans, it seems, would gladly go back to the days where being a woman was considered a preexisting condition and insurance companies could drop your coverage because you get sick, get older or have a baby. But we are not going to go back to those days just as we are not going to create a future where politicians in Washington take away the freedom of women to make their own personal health care decisions.

I am committed to putting a stop to the relentless and ideological attacks on American families and will continue to fight to ensure that both men and women have the freedom to access the health care services they need. In the United States of America, health care should be a right guaranteed to all. That is why I and so many of us have fought and we will continue to fight as we move our country forward.

I yield the floor.

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