ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on Ruling that Republicans Can’t Block Marketplace Plans from Covering Abortion Care in Budget Reconciliation Bill
ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on SCOTUS Ruling Against Planned Parenthood in Medina v. PPSAT
In Murray-led forum for Dobbs anniversary, Senator Murray laid out how defunding Planned Parenthood is part of Republicans’ strategy for a Backdoor Nationwide Abortion Ban
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement on the Senate Parliamentarian’s ruling that Republicans’ effort to “defund” Planned Parenthood by blocking federal Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood and certain other health care providers (Section 71115) can stay in the reconciliation bill, which is subject to a 50-vote threshold. Democrats had argued that, under Senate rules, the provision to defund Planned Parenthood should be subject to a 60-vote threshold, which would mean Republicans wouldn’t have the votes to pass it. The provision is estimated to cost taxpayers $52 million over the next 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The revised data comes after Senate Republicans put forth new bill text late Friday night that changes the “defund” Planned Parenthood provision from 10 years to one year.
Defunding Planned Parenthood will put at least 200 health centers across the country at risk of closure—90 percent of them in states where abortion is legal—and rip away health care for more than 1.1 million people. Senator Murray has been the leading voice in the Senate speaking out and raising the alarm against Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. Earlier this week, at her forum on the anniversary of the Dobbs decision, Senator Murray spoke about Republicans’ plan to institute a backdoor nationwide abortion ban and laid out how defunding Planned Parenthood is a key part of that strategy.
Recent research from the Guttmacher Institute found that, contrary to Republicans’ claims, Federally Qualified Health Centers do not have the capacity to readily serve the millions of people who currently rely on Planned Parenthood.
“Republicans just got the green light to proceed with their destructive effort to defund Planned Parenthood health centers across the country—a crushing blow to the millions of women across America who rely on Planned Parenthood clinics for basic reproductive care.
“The shock this will have on our health care system cannot be overstated. Republicans’ last-minute changes to shorten the timeline of this provision hardly matter—once health clinics lose funding and are forced to close their doors, they are unlikely to reopen again. Any Republican who votes for this awful betrayal will have to answer for ripping away birth control, cancer screenings, and basic health exams from their constituents, many of whom will have no other place to turn for care they can afford.
“Defunding Planned Parenthood has been a long-sought goal of Republican anti-choice extremists who want to force women to stay pregnant no matter their circumstances and rip birth control off the shelves—today, they are one step closer to this dystopian vision. No one should doubt for a minute that Republicans’ ultimate goal is to ban abortion nationwide.
“I will be offering an amendment to strike this appalling attack on women’s health care from Republicans’ bill. Everyone needs to speak up now and put the pressure on Republicans to vote NO on this fundamental attack on women’s health care.”
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