Mr. President, reserving the right to object, despite its name, this bill does nothing--nothing--to meaningfully help pregnant students, nor does it protect their rights. It is yet another step in a broader war on reproductive…
Mr. President, reserving the right to object, despite its name, this bill does nothing--nothing--to meaningfully help pregnant students, nor does it protect their rights. It is yet another step in a broader war on reproductive freedom--this time by threatening funding losses for colleges and universities that do not comply.
This bill would require colleges and universities to distribute information to all students about carrying a pregnancy to term and caring for a child after birth. That is the focus of this bill.
This bill intentionally--intentionally--excludes information about the full range of reproductive health, including contraception, abortion, even where those options are legal. That is not protecting pregnant students' rights; that is government-mandated bias.
Pregnant students who are legal adults do not need politicians, do not need government, deciding which facts they are allowed to know. What they actually need is medically accurate information so they can make informed decisions about what is best for their bodies, their families, and their futures.
While Republicans claim this bill is about protecting students, the reality is that this bill does nothing to actually expand protections for students.
This bill offers no guarantees of medical leave, flexible coursework, lactation accommodations, childcare assistance, housing support, or financial aid protections. In other words, this bill does nothing to address the real barriers pregnant and parenting students face every day.
Instead, this bill will threaten the funding universities and colleges rely on--funds that have been under attack by this regime. Already, the Trump regime has withheld or canceled billions in grants and other funding from colleges and universities. And now, with this bill, they are threatening the further loss of funds to force colleges and universities to comply by requiring--requiring--them to push out incomplete information that intentionally does not provide students the full range of options. And that is because this bill isn't actually about protecting students. It is about advancing Republicans' war on reproductive care.
Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court's disastrous Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, overturning a constitutional right that women in this country relied on and had for some 50 years.
And in the 4 years since Dobbs, Republicans have worked tirelessly to deny or limit access to reproductive care, to spread fear and confusion, and to shame those who seek care.
By intentionally withholding medically accurate information from students at a moment when access is already under attack, this bill will only further undermine access to reproductive care.
This bill does nothing to protect the rights of students. It treats students as though they are political pawns, endangering their health and well-being to advance Republicans' extremist anti-abortion agenda. For those reasons, I object.
Mr. President, if Republicans truly want to help students make informed decisions and prevent unintended pregnancies, they would support evidence-based--not ideologically based but evidence-based policies that expand access to medically accurate information, policies like the Real Education and Access for Healthy Youth Act, legislation that I introduced with Senator Booker that would expand comprehensive medically accurate sex education and ensure young people at colleges and universities have the information they need to navigate their futures. That is what real support looks like.
By equipping students with factual information, our bill will help empower our young people to make informed decisions about their bodies and their lives.
Mr. President, that is why I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 1910; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be consider made and laid upon the table.
