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Floor Speech

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Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I am on the floor here today to address the same topic as my colleague who just spoke. And before I jump into prepared remarks, I wanted to offer just a few points of rebuttal because on this topic it seems so frequently that we all talk past each other and don't generally listen to one another.

The Women's Health Protection Act of 2022, which I lead with Senator Blumenthal, would, indeed, codify Roe v. Wade, but it would additionally give clarity to the States about what further restrictions they could put in place.

I hail from the State of Wisconsin, where our State legislature, over many, many years, has brought forth all sorts of measures--some of which have been signed into law, many of which have been challenged in court, and some of which have been vetoed--but these are restrictions on access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including abortion care, that limit access, that make it much more difficult, which is what Roe v. Wade intended to prevent. They have nothing to do with the health or the life of the mother. In fact, in some cases, they actually do harm to maternal life and health.

There are measures in places across the United States that deal with the corridor width of clinics--the corridor width. It would force, if these laws were to go into effect, many clinics to have to either reconstruct themselves or move. This is clearly something meant to limit access.

There are laws and bills that relate to admitting privileges at local hospitals, which are absolutely not medically necessary and will allow all the area hospitals to team up to deny those privileges, and then the clinic won't have a physician able to work there. There are 24-hour waiting periods.

I listened to what my colleague had to say about the blanket overturning of Roe v. Wade. It would mean, when a woman's life is in jeopardy at some point in her pregnancy, she wouldn't have the ability to save her life and her reproductive health because she wouldn't have access to abortion care.

Then to characterize this bill as extreme, in my mind, is so opposite the truth because, to me, what is extreme is forcing, say, a teen to bring a rapist's child to term or forcing a young woman to give birth to her sibling in cases of incest.

My colleague talked about the polls. I don't know what he was looking at. He was talking about pro-choice versus anti-choice. Everything I have seen shows that the overwhelming majority of Americans believes that Roe v. Wade is settled law and should remain in place and that only a small percentage believes it should be overturned in its entirety.

In going on to my prepared remarks, I rise today to join my colleague Senator Richard Blumenthal in support of the Women's Health Protection Act of 2022--a bill that would protect a woman's right to access safe abortion care throughout the United States, no matter where she lives, without unnecessary and unwanted political interference.

Congress is responsible for enforcing every American's fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution. Throughout history, when States have passed laws that make it harder or even impossible to exercise those rights, Congress has taken action to put in place Federal protections.

I want to remind my colleagues of this responsibility. I also want to share a story from one of my constituents.

Angela and Abby, her wife, knew they wanted to start a family, so they sought treatment at a fertility clinic in Wisconsin. In 2019, after years of trying, Angela became pregnant. It was a pregnancy they had wanted more than anything, but Angela soon found out that she had what is called a molar pregnancy. This occurs when a tumor forms instead of a healthy placenta. Her pregnancy was not viable. Her doctors moved quickly, and Angela had a safe and legal abortion.

She wrote to me earlier this week:

Had abortion been illegal, I would have died.

Access to a safe abortion saved Angela's life. For others, an abortion kept a family out of poverty or allowed them to complete their educations or start careers. Abortions have protected women from being tied to their rapists and have spared them of the emotional and physical trauma of carrying an unviable pregnancy to term.

I was only 10 years old when Roe v. Wade was decided. For 50 years, just about, this decision has stood. In the words of Justice Kavanaugh, it is ``settled as a precedent of the Supreme Court,'' but, apparently, precedent means nothing. Access to safe and legal abortion is under direct attack as an activist Supreme Court appears poised to legislate from the bench and take a constitutionally protected right away from tens of millions of Americans.

For women like Angela, the gravity of this draft decision from the Supreme Court cannot be overstated. Americans can remember when back alley abortions killed and sterilized women across the country. This decision, if finalized, will not stop abortions from happening; it will only prevent safe abortions from happening. It will disproportionately impact poor women and women of color, who will not have the privilege of making their own healthcare decisions. If Roe is overturned, 13 States would immediately ban abortions, and others, of course, would move to do so.

If Roe is overturned and we don't pass the Women's Health Protection Act, Wisconsin women will be taken back to the mid-1800s. What do I mean by that? We have a law on our books in Wisconsin which criminalizes abortion procedures. If Roe is overturned, doctors in Wisconsin would be charged with felonies for performing abortions and face up to 6 years in prison and $10,000 in fines. The rights of victims of rape and incest would be taken away. The right for women to choose for themselves and their families would be taken away.

I sure am not taking women in Wisconsin back to 1849, and we cannot allow an activist Supreme Court to leave this generation of women behind with fewer rights than their mothers and their grandmothers enjoyed.

The Women's Health Protection Act is the only bill that can put an end to the restrictive State laws that have already put thousands of women in jeopardy. The legislation meets the urgent need to protect the provider, patient relationship; to protect the healthcare professionals who provide care; and to protect the freedom and constitutional rights of women to access this care.

I believe a woman's right to choose is protected under the Constitution, and so does a clear majority of Americans want Roe v. Wade to be upheld. It is our responsibility to take action for women like Angela and on behalf of the American people.

I urge my colleagues to vote yes on the motion to proceed to the Women's Health Protection Act of 2022.

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