As Senate Republicans Once Again Spread Lies About Abortion, Murray Makes Clear Democrats Will Keep Standing Up For Women And Families

Murray slammed Senate Republicans for holding a partisan hearing to spread misinformation and lies about women’s health

Murray shared stories of women who have spoken up about their personal decision to have an abortion later in pregnancy

Murray: “Why are Republicans spending time doubling down on lies to undermine women’s reproductive health?”

**Watch Senator Murray’s full speech HERE**

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered remarks on the floor blasting Republican Senators for holding a partisan hearing to spread lies and misinformation about women’s health and why some women decide to have an abortion later in their pregnancy. Senator Murray highlighted the stories of several women who have spoken out publically about their decision to have an abortion later in pregnancies for various reasons, including terminal fetal development issues and dire complications that threatened the women’s lives. Senator Murray also reaffirmed Democrats’ commitment to fighting on behalf of women’s reproductive rights.?

“Republicans  may not be listening to women, or doctors, or families like the ones I’ve mentioned today who had to make extremely difficult decisions,” said Senator Murray. “But Democrats sure are listening. We know that women need to be able to make the health care choices that are right for them and their families, and health care providers need to be able to let medical standards, not politics, drive patients’ care.”

Watch Sen. Murray’s speech HERE.

Full text below of Sen. Murray’s speech:

“M. President, as the Minority Leader explained, we unfortunately expect that today, Senate Republicans will again make an effort to spread lies and misinformation about why some women decide to have abortions later in pregnancy. 

“They’ll do so instead of listening to women like Judy, from my home state of Washington, who learned her son’s organs were not developing properly, one lung was just 20 percent formed, the other was missing entirely.

“Women like Darla, from Texas, who learned that the complications one of her twins was facing could endanger the other’s life as well. Women like Alyson, a mother of six who also learned one of her twins had died in the womb, the other was facing severe complications, and that her own health was in severe risk from the pregnancy. Or countless patients in states that have so severely undermined access to safe, legal abortion, women struggle to exercise their rights protected under our Constitution. 

“M. President, it’s worth asking—with so much else going on, why are Republicans spending time doubling down on lies to undermine women’s reproductive health?

“The unfortunate truth is that my Republican colleagues aren’t repeating these falsehoods because they are concerned about children or families. Instead, they’re doing whatever they think will help them reach their goal of taking away access to safe abortion in the United States of America.

“But M. President—Republicans  may not be listening to women, or doctors, or families like the ones I’ve mentioned today who had to make extremely difficult decisions—but Democrats sure are listening.

“We know that women need to be able to make the health care choices that are right for them and their families, and health care providers need to be able to let medical standards, not politics, drive patients’ care.

“None of this should be controversial—and for the vast majority of people across the country, it isn’t.

“But as long as Republicans are holding partisan hearings to spread misinformation and lies, or pushing anti-doctor, anti-woman, and anti-family legislation, or putting up new barriers to make it harder for women to access reproductive health care, or trying to defund trusted health care providers like Planned Parenthood through harmful ‘gag rules’ or jamming through far-right ideological judges to chip away at Roe v. Wade—Democrats are not going to stop fighting back on behalf of women, men, and families across the country.

“Thank you.”

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