Floor Statements

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

I thank Senator Baldwin for her thoughtful remarks.

Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Women's Health Protection Act, and I urge my colleagues to join us in standing up for fundamental rights to freedom, autonomy, and self-determination.

Make no mistake: That is what this vote is about--who has the power; who has the freedom to decide when your own health, livelihood, and life are on the line.

There is nothing more American than the values of freedom and individual autonomy; yet the U.S. Supreme Court is about to declare that women in this country are not guaranteed the freedom to make their own private decisions about abortion.

Justice Alito, Mitch McConnell, Senate Republicans, and radical Republican State legislators around the country believe that they should have the power--that they know better than American women, whose lives and stories they will never know.

To that, I say: How dare they?

When I worked at Planned Parenthood, I saw firsthand the capacity of women to make good decisions about their health, their bodies, and their lives. To suggest otherwise is insulting to the dignity of women as full, adult human beings and as equal citizens of this Nation, but that is where we are. Justice Alito's draft opinion is a wake-up call and a call to action. Reading his opinion was like a gut punch, but it was not a surprise, and it didn't just happen.

This is the result of a decades' long campaign by Republicans and their dark money donors to put anti-choice Justices on the Supreme Court, to overturn Roe, and to strip women of their constitutional rights. This is why this vote is so important. For the first time in my living memory, the Supreme Court is about to take away a fundamental constitutional right, and it is important that Americans see who is on their side and who is responsible for this.

Extremist Republicans have been working for this goal for decades; yet, now that this moment is almost here, they keep trying to change the subject. In fact, they want to talk about anything but, including when they spread misleading information about what the Women's Health Protection Act would really do, which is to put the protections of Roe into statute.

So why are Republicans running from this issue after having campaigned on it for years?

Well, it is because Americans don't want to overturn Roe, and anti- choice Republicans know this. They know that they are on the wrong side of history and on the wrong side of public opinion and of over half the American electorate. That is why this vote is so important. We will not let them dodge their responsibility for this outrageous attack on women's freedom.

Now, some Republicans are saying that this is all a bit of a tempest in a teapot. They say: Don't worry. All the Supreme Court is about to do is to hand power back for the States to decide on abortion.

Colleagues, do not believe this. The American people deserve to know where this goes next.

Today, we are fighting on the Senate floor to preserve in law the basic protections of Roe v. Wade, but extremist Republicans have been clear. Their end goal is to secure a nationwide ban on abortion. As Senator McConnell said this weekend: It is not a secret that the Senate Republican caucus is opposed to reproductive rights and that, if Senate Republicans win the majority, a nationwide ban is ``worthy of debate.''

That is the post-Roe future if Republicans are in charge.

Even though a majority of Americans in all States believes that abortion should be legal, Republicans have been clear that a nationwide ban is their goal. At the same time, Republican State legislators are brazenly moving forward. They are moving forward with extremist policies that go way beyond depriving women of their essential freedoms--they punish and criminalize women.

Take, for example, a Missouri mother of two, facing a high-risk pregnancy, who travels to Illinois for an abortion because she is worried about being there for her existing children. Missouri Republicans want her to be labeled as a felon when she returns homes.

Take a woman in Louisiana who has an abortion after her IUD failed and she had an unexpected pregnancy. Louisiana Republicans want her convicted of homicide.

Take the Texas woman, who hoped and prayed for years for a baby, only to have her doctor find a fatal fetal anomaly at 22 weeks. Texas Republicans want her to carry that pregnancy for another 18 weeks, no matter the risk to her life and no matter the trauma she faces as people congratulate her on her upcoming baby when she knows she will never know that child.

So I say again, how dare these Republicans think that they know better than the women who live these stories.

This is the post-Roe world that Republicans want, and we won't stand for it. If you think this struggle doesn't affect you or someone you care about, think again.

One in four American women will have an abortion--women who are Democrats, Republicans, Independents, women from all places and all religious faiths. For these women, abortion isn't

about politics; it is about healthcare. Most of them never expected to be part of this statistic, but life doesn't always go as we plan. Every day, women deal with situations they never imagined, and they deserve the freedom and the autonomy to decide for themselves what to do and what is best for them.

With this vote to pass the Women's Health Protection Act, we are showing whom we stand with and what we believe--the fundamental freedom of people to make the best decisions for their health, their families, and their futures.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Melody Tan and Sarah Alexander--fellows in my office--be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the 117th Congress.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I understand that there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 4160 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 624, submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 625, submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 10; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Phillips nomination postcloture; further, that the confirmation vote on the Phillips nomination occur at 11:45 a.m. and that the Senate recess following the cloture vote on the Berhe nomination until 2:15 p.m.; that if cloture is invoked on the Berhe nomination, all postcloture time be considered expired at 2:30 p.m.; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Tuesday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Madam President, I rise in support of the Women's Health Protection Act.

I am here today because I believe, as do most in this country, that people should have the freedom to receive the reproductive healthcare they need, including abortion. The Women's Health Protection Act would protect that freedom.

Now, I am the only Senator in this body who has ever worked for Planned

Parenthood. I learned firsthand in that job that, if people don't control their reproductive lives, they don't control anything in their lives. Working at Planned Parenthood in Minnesota was an honor, and I had the opportunity to hear the stories of patients, each with individual, unique, personal reasons for receiving an abortion. This is still the case for the patients who visit all of these clinics today.

Here is one story about a woman named Liz from Edina, MN.

At Liz's 18th-week ultrasound appointment, Liz's doctor told her that her pregnancy was incompatible with life. She would either miscarry or the baby would die moments after birth. Because of this diagnosis, Liz decided to have an abortion. It was an agonizing experience for her, but she was able to make the decision on her own terms.

Another story I want to share today comes from a patient from Minneapolis.

At the age of 20, they were in an abusive relationship and found themselves 7 weeks pregnant. They went to Planned Parenthood for their abortion, and that abortion helped them to break from their affiliation with their abuser. They eventually got back on their feet, and they could pursue their dream of going to law school and starting a marketing firm and having a family with somebody who they loved.

These are the stories of people facing one of the most important decisions we humans will ever make: whether to become a parent. They were able to make these decisions freely and for themselves. We should all have this freedom. We should all be able to make these decisions for ourselves, free from politicians and judges looking over our shoulders and deciding for us. A majority of Americans agree with this. They agree that abortion should be legal, and they understand that reproductive healthcare, including abortion, is healthcare.

Yet, today, the reproductive rights of women in this country are at their greatest risk since Roe v. Wade was decided decades ago, and it is no mystery as to how we got here. What is happening today is the culmination of a nearly 40-year effort by conservatives in the Republican Party to radically remake the courts. It is 2022, and that moment is here. The Supreme Court seems poised to overturn Roe, and if that happens, half the States in this country will ban abortion entirely--half the States.

In anticipation of this moment, rightwing Republican State legislatures have been working to pass laws that will gut women's healthcare and severely restrict our freedom. What this means is that women's freedom and autonomy over our own bodies--our right to reproductive healthcare, the healthcare that we need--will basically depend on who we are and where we live. Make no mistake. Abortion care will always--it will always--be available to women who have money. It will be poor women and women of color who will lose this right.

This is why the Women's Health Protection Act is so important. We need to listen to the voices of the majority of Americans who agree: Women deserve the freedom and the dignity to make their own decisions about their own bodies and their own lives. But the reality is, we can no longer rely on the courts to protect this right. That is why we need to pass the Women's Health Protection Act.

In a few minutes, we will vote on this bill, which would protect the right to abortion in every State. It would advance racial justice. It would limit the structural barriers to accessing abortion care and protect everybody's freedom to make the best decisions for themselves, for their health, for their families, and for their futures.

Colleagues, I urge you to vote to pass the Women's Health Protection Act.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the following nominations en bloc: Calendar Nos. 721 and 722; that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening action or debate; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the following nomination: Calendar No. 648, Alice P. Albright, of the District of Columbia, to be Chief Executive Officer, Millennium Challenge Corporation; that the Senate vote on the nomination without any intervening action or debate; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Legislative Session for a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.