Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act

Madam President, I want to start by recognizing the overwhelming victory for the right to abortion in Kansas last night. Since the day the Supreme Court struck down the right to abortion and upended the lives of women across the country, the American people have been using their voices to speak out against Republicans' extreme bans.

And now, for the first time since the Dobbs decision, they have had the chance to speak with their votes, and they sent a message loud and clear: People do not want their fundamental rights stripped away. They will not forget Republicans' cruelty in dragging us back half a century, and when abortion is at stake, they are not going to stay on the sidelines.

Last night, the people of Kansas sent a message as clear as any I have ever seen in politics. Now, today, we are going to see if Republicans are finally getting that message or if they are going to continue to ignore the American people, because Democrats are here today with legislation to protect doctors providing legal abortion care and make sure they can do their jobs, practice medicine, and save lives without the threat of legal action.

I really can't believe that we need this bill at all. We are talking about doctors who are following the law and simply want to provide care to their patients. It is not enough for Republicans that their cruel abortion bans have meant appointments that have been canceled; prescriptions that have been denied; doctors who have been forced to wait until patients got sicker, to wait until women are actually at death's door before they can provide lifesaving care.

Nope, they are going to go further than that. Now they are coming after doctors providing legal abortion care too. I really can't emphasize that enough. These doctors are following the law and are still facing legal threats and harassment.

Right now, in Indiana, a doctor is being investigated after providing an abortion for a 10-year-old who was raped. Think about that. A doctor is being investigated after doing their job, after simply providing healthcare--care that can be lifesaving, care that was entirely legal in their State, care that, up until the Republicans' far-right Supreme Court overturned Roe, was legal across the country.

The fact that Dr. Bernard is being investigated after just doing her job and helping her patient is chilling.

I want to be very clear. While Dr. Bernard's story may be in headlines across the country, she is not the only doctor facing threats, and she will not be the last. At this very moment, Republican State lawmakers are drafting legislation that would make it a crime to provide abortion care to a resident even in another State where it is legal.

From talking with doctors back home in Washington, I can tell you, they are following this closely and they are worried. I have heard from providers back in Spokane and across Washington State who are worried that they could face lawsuits that threaten their practices and their livelihoods just for doing their jobs, just for providing care that patients need--care that is, once again, completely legal in my State.

So Democrats are here today standing up for doctors. We have been drafting a bill of our own, the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Healthcare Act, and we are proud that Dr. Bernard herself supports this bill.

I want to thank my colleagues Senator Rosen from Nevada, Senator Lujan from New Mexico, and Senator Padilla from California for their partnership and critical work on this bill, as well as my colleague Representative Schrier from my home State of Washington, who is leading the legislation in the House.

This is another simple bill to address a threat we know is far too real. The Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Healthcare Act will protect doctors providing legal abortion care and make sure that they can practice medicine and save lives without fear of legal threats and intimidation. It will make clear that the attacks we have seen on doctors are unacceptable; that politicians should not be harassing or scaring or investigating or threatening or punishing doctors for providing care that is perfectly legal, that patients want, and that, in many cases, is even necessary to save lives.

Democrats are going to try to pass this bill right now because we believe no doctor should be punished for caring for patients and providing legal abortion care. And if Republicans who have claimed they don't want to punish doctors actually mean it, if those words are more than just an empty talking point, more than another broken promise, they will stay out of the way and let us get this done today.

But if they don't--if they block us like they blocked the legislation to protect the right to travel across State lines for an abortion, or like they blocked the legislation to expand family planning services, or like they blocked legislation to protect the right to contraceptives--their obstruction will continue to speak louder than any of their hollow claims about actually caring for patients or families or women.

And even if they stop us from getting this bill done today, they are not going to stop us from continuing to put them on the record and hold them accountable for their positions. They are not going to stop us from doing everything we can to protect the rights and the people they are putting in grave danger. And they are going to have to answer to the people they represent--to patients, to providers, to families-- whose lives they are turning upside down.

Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 4723 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Madam President, we have now seen time and again, over the last few weeks, that when it comes to protecting rights and providing healthcare for women and patients and families, Republicans' promises are empty and their positions are extreme.

Democrats just offered a bill to protect the rights of providers to be able to provide abortions in legal States. Democrats recently offered a bill to protect the right to travel across State lines to get an abortion. They blocked it. We offered a bill to expand our Nation's longstanding Family Planning Program. They blocked that. We offered a bill to protect the right to contraceptives, and they blocked that too. Today, again, we offered a bill simply to protect doctors performing legal abortions, and they blocked that too.

Each one of these bills was incredibly straightforward. Each one of these is common sense. Each time, Republicans have stood in the way of basic protections of Americans' reproductive freedoms.

Democrats are not giving up, and, as we saw last night, the American people are not either. We are going to fight for the right to an abortion. We are going to fight for doctors who are doing their jobs and doing what is best for their patients. We are going to fight for women making their own decisions about their own bodies, their families, and their futures.

And we are going to make sure everyone knows and no one forgets exactly who is standing in the way, exactly where Republicans stand in this fight.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, last week, Republicans made clear that despite the clear outcry from people across the country, overturning Roe was just their first step. Republicans want a national abortion ban. Republicans want to force my constituents to stay pregnant even when they do not want to be and to go after the doctors who provide abortion care.

I am here today to continue to say in no uncertain terms that Democrats are not going to stand for it. While Republicans are busy threatening the rights of women in every State across the country and threatening doctors with jail time, Democrats are here to defend abortion rights and defend the doctors who provide that care, because even before Republicans dropped their national abortion ban bill, I was hearing from providers in my home State of Washington who are facing a huge influx of patients due to Republicans' extreme bans.

Just yesterday, the Texas Tribune shared the heartbreaking story of a woman who learned that the pregnancy she had wanted so badly was incompatible with life, that her daughter was developing without a skull or brain. But because Republicans in Texas think they know better than this woman or her doctor, she had to travel for treatment from Dallas all the way to Seattle to get the care she needed.

Providers on the ground in my State tell me there are so many more patients being forced to make a trek like that. They are worried about caring for them, and not just because it is for so many more patients, not just because Republicans are straining resources and causing a healthcare crisis that puts women's lives at risk; healthcare professionals are also deeply worried about how Republicans' extreme laws threaten their practices. They are terrified Republicans will take away their livelihoods and even their freedom just for doing their jobs, just for providing the care their patients need--care that is, once again, completely legal in my State.

They are right to be scared. When it comes to Republicans' extreme, no-holds-barred anti-abortion agenda, the writing is on the wall, and it has been for some time. Even before this latest bill, Republican State lawmakers were already drafting legislation that would make it a crime to provide abortion care to a resident even in another State where it is legal, and they were doing this while at the same time trying to claim they didn't want to throw doctors in prison.

On top of all of that, they were standing in the way of the bill I will offer today to protect healthcare providers. This is a really straightforward bill. It simply protects doctors providing legal abortion care.

The last time I tried to pass it, the junior Senator from Indiana said he was concerned about this bill ``allowing abortions for anyone who crosses the State lines and is not a resident of that State.'' In other words, Republicans are worried about all the patients I mentioned earlier who are traveling to Washington State seeking abortion care that they urgently need. Republicans don't think they should be able to travel to Washington State to get healthcare, and they want to allow other States to target Washington State doctors, to threaten them for providing legal abortion care.

That is extreme. It is not what doctors want, and it is definitely not what the American people want. Women and men across the country do not want politicians making their healthcare decisions and throwing their doctors in prison. They want to be able to make their own decisions about their own bodies, their own families, their own future. They want doctors to be able to focus on doing their jobs, not fearing a jail sentence.

So I urge my Republican colleagues to step aside and allow us to pass the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act. This legislation is so straightforward. It protects doctors providing legal abortion care, and it ensures that they can practice medicine and save lives without fear of legal threats and intimidation. It makes clear that the attacks we have seen on doctors are unacceptable and that politicians should not be harassing or scaring or investigating, threatening, or punishing doctors for providing care that is perfectly legal, that patients want, and that in many cases is even necessary to save lives.

If Republicans have been doing what I have been doing, if they have been actually listening to doctors and patients, then they should reverse course and let us get this commonsense bill passed. But if they continue blocking these steps, if they continue ignoring the outcry from every corner of the country, if they continue to undermine the health of patients seeking care and the freedom of healthcare providers doing their jobs, they should know we are not going to stop pushing back. There is too much at stake.

So, Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 4723; that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I am deeply disappointed. I am not surprised. We continue to see Republicans show their true, harsh colors, and the contrast with Democrats could not be more stark.

We simply want people to get the healthcare they need and let them make their own medical decisions. Republicans want to ban abortion nationwide. We want to protect doctors. Republicans want to threaten and penalize or even jail them just for doing their job, even when they are following their State's laws.

Mr. President, rest assured, I will continue speaking up for our healthcare providers, for families, for patients. And as we continue to see

this extremism, I want to assure everybody that I am not going to stop fighting.

Mr. President, someone should be allowed to travel out of their own State to get the healthcare they need. It is unbelievable that the Republicans block this bill.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act.

I am honored to be here with the Senator from Nevada, Senator Rosen. She is one of the sponsors of this bill, along with Senator Murray and Senator Padilla, who is also here, and Senator Ben Ray Lujan and myself in addition to over 20 of our colleagues.

We must pass this bill today. Almost 6 weeks ago--that is all the time it has been. It seems like it has been a lot longer. It has been only 6 weeks since the Supreme Court issued a rule shredding nearly five decades of precedent of protecting a woman's right to make her own healthcare decisions.

Now, because of that decision to shred 50 years of precedent, women are at the mercy of State laws or new State laws or Governors. They literally ran to the State capitols--a number of legislators--to see who could get there first to introduce and pass the most extreme bill. Literally, women are at the mercy of State laws that are a patchwork across the country and that, in many cases, leave them with fewer rights than their mothers or their grandmothers had.

This is in spite of what the American people want, as 70 to 80 percent of Americans believe that it is a decision that should be made by a woman and her doctor and not by politicians--not by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. They don't want them making their decisions for them. They want to make their decisions with their doctors.

As if it were not proof enough, after having come here every single week since the Dobbs decision was issued to remind people of where the actual public is out there, look at what happened last night. We heard the majority loud and clear in the Sunflower State of Kansas. The people of Kansas, in a record turnout--doubling the number of Kansans who voted in the last midterm election--voted 59 to 41 percent to protect reproductive freedom. That is more than 530,000 Kansans who showed up at an odd election time. In the middle of the summer, on a hot day in August, they showed up to protect women's rights. For context, fewer than 460,000 Kansans even cast a ballot in the 2018 primary. That is what we are dealing with; yet we now have 530,000 who showed up to vote on one side to say: A woman's right should be protected in their State.

This is a wake-up call to my colleagues who have been resisting action when it comes to allowing women to travel, when it comes to allowing women to be able to make a choice about even contraception, when it comes to, in this bill, letting doctors provide reproductive healthcare.

This doesn't come down to red States or blue States, my friends. People across the country, as I have argued vociferously before--and now I have my proof point--whether they be Independents, Democrats, or moderate Republicans, when they show up, women's

rights are protected. And guess what. They are showing up.

Since this decision came down, I have come to the floor of the Senate again and again with my colleagues to push for commonsense bills to protect women in this post-Roe world. We have tried to preserve a woman's right to travel to other States; that was Senator Cortez Masto's bill. We brought a bill to the floor to give women reliable access to family planning services; that was my colleague Senator Tina Smith's bill. We tried to pass legislation to make sure everyone could access contraception as well as accurate information about contraception.

We thank all our colleagues for their work on these bills, and I want to specifically mention Senator Murray for her work. We are not giving up, not when so much is on the line.

Many of the biggest fights for reproductive freedom are happening on State and local levels. Women as well as their doctors are now in the crosshairs. Republican State lawmakers are drafting legislation that would make it a crime to provide abortion care to a patient in another State where it is legal.

Let's get this straight. They would make it a crime, where you can't get an abortion--like that little 10-year-old girl couldn't get an abortion, when she was raped, in her own State. She goes to another State, and now we have legislators in certain States who are trying to make it a crime for her to do that. State legislators in Texas and Arkansas have indicated they are considering these kinds of laws, and the Governor of South Dakota, which shares a border with my State, refused to rule out a similar law.

Doctors in Minnesota, where reproductive rights are firmly protected, could be prosecuted for providing completely legal medical procedures for people in maybe North Dakota or South Dakota or Iowa who come to the great State of Minnesota.

The Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act is a straightforward solution. It protects doctors giving abortion care in States where it is legal and stops extreme attempts to investigate or punish them for doing their job.

Women and the providers who help them are already facing so much uncertainty because of the Dobbs decision. We should all be able to agree that, at the very least, States shouldn't be able to target, punish, or arrest out-of-State doctors who are following their own State laws.

Today, each and every one of my colleagues has the opportunity to make clear where they stand. They did that in Kansas last night; they were able to vote. Now, let's have a real vote on this--not stop the vote, actually get it done.

I see my friend Senator Blumenthal, who has been such a leader on this issue, out of the State of Connecticut is here as well as Senator Padilla.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, first, I thank my colleague and friend from the great State of Minnesota for being such a steadfast champion of this issue over so many years and such an articulate and eloquent spokesman.

I am proud to join her and other colleagues, as we have done, week after week since the Dobbs decision, trying to protect a woman's right to decide when and whether to have children, a woman's basic control over her own body, a woman's freedom that the Dobbs decision stripped away and put in the hands of politicians.

The politicians in robes on the Supreme Court, in effect, took those rights away from the women of America, after 50 years of precedent and after everyone thought these rights were absolutely secure.

When I first introduced the Women's Health Protection Act in 2013, the idea that Roe v. Wade would be overruled was absolutely unimaginable. We were trying to fight the disruption of rights piece by piece through State laws that required admitting privileges or width of hallways or waiting times or other kinds of restrictions that constituted an unconstitutional burden on women's rights.

Now, we are in the post-Roe world where the unthinkable has become real. The unimaginable is with us right now, and worse is to come.

The hit list of this Supreme Court includes contraception, marriage equality, the basic right to privacy that is enshrined in the Constitution, the right to be let alone from government interference.

So my Republican colleagues who think we are being alarmists, the unthinkable is with us right now. And we need to provide assurance and certainty to the women of America that they can travel to seek abortion services; that family planning options will be available to them; that contraception rights will be secure. And each time we have come to the floor to seek that recognition of basic rights, the Republicans have blocked us.

So now we are here on a measure called let doctors provide reproductive healthcare--Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care.

There is a really cruel irony to this effort. The doctors and nurses and healthcare providers who were our heros and remain our heros--even more so now--during the pandemic and afterward, can be prosecuted criminally for trying to save a woman's life. An abortion that is necessary to that woman's life may be the mission of a doctor who then can be prosecuted criminally.

Now, in Connecticut, we have said--our legislature has made it absolutely clear that nobody in Connecticut is going to be prosecuted, no law enforcement official in Connecticut is going to cooperate with Texas or any other States that criminalize abortion services, no evidence from Connecticut is going to be made available to an overly zealous or aggressive prosecutor hell-bent on going after a doctor or a healthcare provider or a woman who seeks abortion services, but Connecticut is the exception. Its safe harbor makes it unusual, not common.

So we need a national law, Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act, that protects the healthcare givers and providers of our Nation to do their job. The Hippocratic oath is, for them, something that goes as deep as our oath of office for us. We are sworn to uphold the Constitution; they, in effect, take an oath to save lives. That is their job, and their lives should not be in jeopardy, nor should their livelihood, simply because they are doing their job.

We have seen, time and time again, that this Supreme Court has no respect for precedent. We have seen State legislators who have no respect for reproductive rights and healthcare. We cannot rely on false reassurances made by Republican colleagues here or anyone around the country because history has already shown us that this Supreme Court has on its hit list these fundamental rights and expanding the restrictions on them.

So I ask my colleagues to join us in unanimous consent for this measure. That motion will be made shortly. I hope that we can join in ensuring that individuals have access to quality healthcare regardless of their ZIP Code, no matter where they live. The women of America deserve this basic right, and the healthcare providers who enable them to protect themselves and who save lives deserve the assurance that they are not going to be the target of a prosecutor hell-bent on making a name for himself or a State legislature seeking to make political points at the expense of a healthcare provider.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, colleagues, on January 24, just 5\1/2\ weeks ago, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade just weeks after Republicans in this Chamber blocked our push to codify the right to an abortion into Federal law.

So since January 24, Democrats have been fighting to ensure that abortion care remains accessible. We pushed to pass a bill that would protect the fundamental right to travel to States where abortion is still legal; Republicans blocked it. We pushed to pass a commonsense bill to expand access to family planning services; Republicans blocked that one too. We pushed to codify the right to contraception; Republicans blocked it. At every turn, Republicans have taken extreme and out-of-touch positions by blocking these commonsense bills.

So today Democrats are standing up to protect doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who are increasingly under attack just for doing

their jobs and providing legal abortions.

Colleagues, I am proud to join Senator Murray and our colleagues in this effort to pass the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act to ensure doctors can provide the reproductive healthcare that women need. Abortion access, after all, is essential healthcare.

Now, I have seen firsthand the incredible work that providers in California do to provide critical reproductive care. Most recently, I have visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in Los Angeles. We are already seeing a chilling effect among healthcare providers driven by the uncertainty of their legal liability--like the alarming lawsuit that was filed against the provider in Indiana who legally helped a 10-year- old rape victim terminate her unwanted pregnancy. So we must make it clear for healthcare providers that abortion restrictions cannot be allowed to reach beyond the borders of anti-abortion States.

The decision of whether or not to have a child is one of the most personal decisions that someone can make--for the students who choose to finish high school before starting a family, for the survivors of sexual assault whose abortion reaffirms the right to choose for their own bodies, for the parents who desperately wanted a child only to learn devastating news about dangerous health risks, for patients whose lives were saved by an abortion because abortion is often critical medical care. Access to abortion should not be dictated by politicians and lawyers.

California and many other States across the country refuse to turn the clock back to an era when abortions were outlawed and dangerous. And, as we saw last night in Kansas, the majority of Kansas voters--in fact, the majority of Americans--agree that women should have access to abortion care.

So we must pass the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Healthcare Act to protect the courageous women and men delivering essential medical care to those who need it.

While Republicans continue to block our efforts to protect reproductive rights, Democrats won't back down. In the face of these unending attacks on reproductive freedom, we will not give up the fight to protect a woman's right to safe abortion access.

I yield the floor.