***WATCH: SENATOR MURRAY’S REMARKS***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) and Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at a press conference marking the three-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning the constitutional right to abortion. Joining Senator Murray at the press conference were Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), abortion access advocates Shanette Williams and Ashley Ortiz, Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson, and Kimberly Inez McGuire, Executive Director of URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity.
At the press conference, Senator Murray highlighted the devastating consequences of Republican abortion bans for women and health care providers across the country, and how Republicans’ attacks on abortion access are only escalating. In particular, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Republicans are pushing through Congress right now would defund Planned Parenthood—threatening the closure of 200 health centers across the country, 90 percent of which are in states where abortion is legal—and effectively ban ACA marketplace health plans from covering abortion services.
Senator Murray’s full remarks at today’s press conference are below and HERE:
“Three years in, it’s clear that the heartbreak and damage being caused by Republicans’ war on abortion is only growing, but so is the public opposition. The outcry is getting louder and louder as more and more people see the full horror of abortion bans in ways they cannot ignore, and will never forget.
“Meanwhile, Republicans aren’t just sticking their heads in the sand, they are sticking to the same, dangerous agenda that is already denying women health care that they need, pushing maternal and reproductive health care providers out of red states in droves, driving a dangerous spike in pregnancy complications and maternal deaths, and forcing women to stay pregnant—regardless of their health or their own wishes.
“Republicans are doubling down with even more anti-abortion extremism. Trump is undermining emergency abortion care, and the basic safety protections for abortion clinic staff and patients. Far-right groups are pushing junk science and trying to rip medication abortion off the shelves nationwide—and they are finding support among top health officials in this Trump administration.
“And Republicans are trying to block marketplace insurance from covering abortion care in their big ugly bill. Not to mention, as Senator Schumer said, they are trying to defund Planned Parenthood—one of the biggest health care providers in the entire country.
“And, let’s not forget Republicans are sneaking fetal personhood language into everything from state laws to Trump’s executive orders. We are talking about an ideology so extreme that it would strip pregnant women of their rights and impose a complete and total ban on abortion, IVF, and even some forms of birth control.
“And they think they can just slip it onto the books without anyone noticing? Not a chance. We are not going to stop calling out these attacks. We are not going to stop pushing to restore and expand abortion access for patients nationwide. We are not going to stop lifting up the voices of women across the country.
“And we are going to keep a bright and burning spotlight on the harm Republicans are causing with their anti-abortion extremism. Which is exactly what I will be doing this afternoon at the spotlight forum joined by many of my colleagues—and I hope to see many of you there.
“We are in this battle, we are not stopping.”
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