Senator Murray’s Opening Remarks at Dobbs Anniversary Spotlight Forum on Republicans’ Attacks on Reproductive Health Care

Washington, D.C. - Today, just ahead of the four-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's disastrous decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overturned the constitutional right to abortion, 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 opening remarks at a spotlight forum she hosted for Senate Democrats titled Post Dobbs Chaos: Republicans' War on Reproductive Health Care. The forum was co-led by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

In her remarks, Senator Murray highlighted the many ways President Trump is assaulting women's reproductive freedoms and how Republicans continue to press for a nationwide abortion ban in every way possible.

Senator Murray's remarks, as delivered, are below:

"We are four years out from the day Republicans ripped away the national right to abortion. The pain that has caused-the horrors we all knew it would cause-are now plain as day. And Republicans have chosen one of two paths to reckon with the nightmare they unleashed.

"First-we have Republicans who are doubling down and pushing for the most extreme, anti-abortion, and anti-woman policies imaginable.

"From the long-standing, far-right wish list of horribles-like: defunding Planned Parenthood through their big ugly bill; blocking Title X family planning funding; and, of course, pushing a national abortion ban. To some truly unhinged policies and conspiracies: states pushing dangerous fetal personhood bills that attack abortion, birth control, and IVF; Trump telling hospitals they can deny pregnant women lifesaving care during medical emergencies; and far-right Senators and anti-abortion groups urging EPA to call mifepristone a water pollutant. The anti-abortion movement helped push out Trump's FDA Commissioner, all because he wasn't doing enough to advance their junk science crusade to pull the abortion pill off the market entirely-even in states where abortion is legal.

"For the anti-abortion Republicans-overturning Roe was never going to be enough, and they show that every day.

"And then we have the Republicans who claim to support abortion and women's choices. But what are they doing about the unending attacks on reproductive rights? Nothing! Republicans are trying to whistle past the graveyard they helped dig as if they had nothing to do with where we are today.

"We are not going to let Republicans off the hook though. Not ever. Every single Republican in the Senate helped enable this new and horrifying reality.

"You don't get to act surprised Trump is empowering Republicans to put politics over health when you voted to confirm RFK Jr. You don't get to act surprised that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, when you voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, or when you don't vote to restore the abortion rights you helped rip away.

"Make no mistake, Republicans would love to ignore the nightmare they made a reality. They don't just want women to stay pregnant, they want them to stay silent. Republicans don't want to hear from the rape survivors they denied care, they don't want to hear from the girls they forced into motherhood. They are hoping the women who were miscarrying and were forced to suffer until they were at death's door because of Republican policies will just be quiet. They are hoping, the widowed husbands, the grieving parents, the kids who lost their moms, will forget about the women who abortion bans have killed.

"So we are here today, to send a message to every Republican who is hoping to dodge accountability. No way. You are going to own the suffering and pain you have inflicted on the women in this country.

"And we are also going to send a message to every person who has had their life turned upside down by Republicans polices: You are not alone. We hear you and we are here for you.

"I am going to hold a bright and burning spotlight on what Republicans have done every single day. And I'm going to make sure your voices are heard-no matter how long Republicans stick their heads in the sand.

"We will lift up women's voices and keep up the fight for abortion rights. We will never be quiet. We will never forget. And we will never accept Republicans' deadly new status quo."

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