“Anti-abortion extremists are going to great lengths to stop women from seeking reproductive care.”
“We cannot let a dedicated minority take that right away from the rest of us.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) spoke on the Senate floor today about her work to protect reproductive health care while abortion access is under attack nationwide.
“Women’s health care isn’t optional,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “Nevadans know this. That’s why we worked so hard in Nevada to protect the right to choose. But what we are seeing in Texas and other states across the country threatens the future of Roe v. Wade everywhere. Without Roe, there will be no federal protections in place, paving the way for anti-choice lawmakers to pass legislation to restrict reproductive rights anywhere in the country. That’s why it’s so important for the Senate to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act.
“In Nevada and across the country, the vast majority of voters believe that women should get to make their own decisions about their reproductive health, including when and whether to have a child,” concluded Senator Cortez Masto. “We can’t let a dedicated minority take that right away from the rest of us. I’m going to keep working on this issue because it’s so important to Nevadans and to women all over this country. This is about making sure women can control their own bodies and their futures, and I will always stand up for that.”
Senator Cortez Masto is a leader in the Senate advocating for reproductive rights. She is a cosponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would guarantee equal access to abortion everywhere. She was a vocal opponent of the Trump administration’s efforts to limit access to family planning and reproductive health care and worked to block federal court nominees who would roll back women’s health care and reproductive freedoms.
Below are her full remarks as delivered. You may download an FTP of the speech HERE.
Anti-abortion extremists are going to great lengths to stop women from seeking reproductive care. As of June, they had proposed 500 new laws restricting reproductive rights, and passed 70 of these laws.
Let’s start with Texas, where a new law prohibits abortions before many people even know they’re pregnant.
The law lets anyone sue those who “aid and abet” abortions—and get a $10,000 reward.
It has the potential to create a whole industry of vigilantes prying into their neighbors’ lives—all to stop women from being able to access reproductive health care.
The American people—70 percent of us—oppose deputizing private citizens to collect these kinds of bounties.
But even though the Texas law is extreme, the Supreme Court has refused to stop it from going into effect.
That means that right now, 7 million women of reproductive age in Texas have been deprived of a key constitutional right. A right they’ve had for fifty years.
Clinics in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Little Rock, Arkansas have seen the number of Texas women seeking abortions jump tenfold in a matter of days.
But it’s not just Texas where the right to medical care is threatened. Dangerous abortion bans have been signed into law in Mississippi, Arizona, and Georgia, among others.
All of this is happening because anti-abortion extremists have been working for decades to limit women’s choices.
Let’s be very clear: they’re on the brink of success.
On December 1, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in a case called Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which deals with an abortion ban in Mississippi.
This case was specifically chosen by anti-choice activists to help strike down Roe v. Wade.
And sadly, the Court has given every signal that it is willing to do those activists’ bidding by overturning Roe v. Wade and allowing these bans to take effect.
That’s why I and 47 of my Senate colleagues filed a friend of the court brief last week, calling on the Supreme Court to stick to the settled precedent of Roe and strike down the Mississippi law.
But if the Supreme Court doesn’t abide by fifty years of its own rulings?
There are 19 states where abortion would be illegal the day after a Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, and others where abortion bans would likely follow.
All in all, nearly half of women nationwide will see the nearest clinic close. The average distance to the nearest clinic for those seeking reproductive care will jump from 25 to 279 miles.
Anyone who has ever worked a minimum-wage job knows that they don’t have the luxury of traveling hundreds of miles for health care.
Women’s health care isn’t optional.
Nevadans know this. That’s why we worked so hard in Nevada to protect the right to choose. In the 1990s, we passed a ballot initiative to enshrine choice into law. And we’ve actually done away with the kind of restrictions on abortion that are popping up in state after state.
But what we are seeing in Texas and other states across the country threatens the future of Roe v. Wade everywhere.
Let me be clear, it threatens the future of future of Roe v. Wade everywhere.
Without Roe, there will be no federal protections in place, paving the way for anti-choice lawmakers to pass legislation to restrict reproductive rights anywhere in the country.
That’s why it’s so important for the Senate to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act.
This bill would outlaw bans and other medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion across the country. It would mean that states could not impose medically unnecessary ultrasounds, excessive waiting periods, and extreme burdens on health care providers intended to limit abortion access.
In Nevada and across the country, the vast majority of voters believe that women should get to make their own decisions about their reproductive health, including when and whether to have a child.
We cannot let a dedicated minority take that right away from the rest of us.
I’m going to keep working on this issue because it’s so important to Nevadans and to women all over this country. This is about making sure that women can control their own bodies and their futures, and I will always stand up for that.
Thank you.
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