Senator Murray Statement on SCOTUS Overturning Roe and Republicans’ Decades-Long Effort to End Abortion Rights

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturns Roe v. Wade and ends the right to abortion.

“Today, Republicans dragged this country backwards by half a century. Republicans ripped away our rights and made this generation the first generation of American women with fewer rights than their mothers. Republicans are forcing women to stay pregnant and give birth when they don’t want to—no matter the circumstances. Republicans are even passing laws to jail women who get abortions and the doctors who provide them.

“And right here in the Senate, it was Republicans who stacked our Supreme Court with anti-abortion justices, who blocked Democrats’ efforts to protect abortion rights, and who right now are pushing for a federal abortion ban.

“Every American needs to understand that this is a real crisis that will affect millions of people across this country, including here in Washington state—Republicans are pushing for a federal abortion ban and Roe v. Wade is no longer settled law. But we aren’t going to stand idly by while they rip away abortion rights, or go after birth control next. We are going to stand up and fight back with our voices and our votes—to protect the right of every woman to make her own health care decisions. The American people will not forget Republicans’ cruelty—not today, not tomorrow, and not this November.”

Senator Murray has long been a leader in Congress in the fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care and abortion rights. Since the Supreme Court agreed to hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Senator Murray has vowed to fight back and protect Roe v. Wade and everyone’s reproductive rights—including by building support and fighting to hold a vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would protect the right to abortion nationwide.

Since the leaked decision revealed the Supreme Court was planning to overturn Roe, Senator Murray has been a leader in the Senate pushing back: immediately calling the decision a “five alarm fire,” pushing for a vote on WHPA so every Republican Senator was forced to show the American public where they stood, and leading her colleagues in the fight to protect everyone’s reproductive rights. Senator Murray has led her colleagues in urging the Biden administration to craft an all-of-government plan to protect abortion rights. She called out data brokers’ collection and sale of sensitive location data that could put those seeking abortion care at risk—and introduced legislation to ban the practice outright. She introduced legislation condemning the criminalization of the full range of reproductive and sexual health care. Senator Murray also introduced legislation to expand access to affordable, over-the-counter birth control—and has led efforts in Congress to ensure patients can get the birth control they need without being forced to jump through unnecessary hoops or pay out-of-pocket.

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