Washington, D.C. –U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto, Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Senate Democrats held a briefing with medical experts and advocates on the state of abortions rights in America, the chaos and cruelty of state abortion bans, and the emergent need to stand up against efforts to pass a federal abortion ban. The briefing was co-hosted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
During the briefing, Senator Cortez Masto highlighted the critical need to continue speaking out about attacks on women’s rights, saying, “Our voices are key at this moment in time…It’s not just about these extreme politicians going after abortion. They are stopping women from traveling out of state for health care, they’re trying to criminalize women, and they’re trying to criminalize the doctors for helping them. They’re coming after birth control, they’re coming after mifepristone and the right to get [a] medicated abortion. The Supreme court is going to decide whether banning abortion in emergency rooms and restricting access to the abortion pill is okay….Some of my colleagues are proposing legislation to ban abortion nationally.” She concluded, “everything about women’s rights when it comes to our reproductive freedom is on the line right now.”
Cortez Masto also discussed the upcoming Supreme Court case that could gut the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) and prevent women from getting lifesaving abortion care in an emergency room.
“Whether it’s loss of a mother’s life, or loss of the mother’s fertility, or the loss of her health that they become so debilitated that they’re not being able to function—it’s terrifying,” said Dr. Serina Floyd, Chief Medical Officer for Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. “I have colleagues I know who have been in that situation, where they have literally had their hands tied and not been able to provide care that they knew was going to be absolutely paramount to being able to save a patient’s life.”
Senator Cortez Masto has been fierce advocate for women’s reproductive rights. In response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Cortez Masto introduced the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act to ensure legal protections for women traveling across state lines to receive reproductive care. She’s championed the Women’s Health Protection Act to guarantee equal access to abortion everywhere. She’s also a cosponsor of legislation to codify the right to contraception, and has urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to protect the data privacy of women seeking reproductive care. She took on one of the nation’s biggest pharmaceutical wholesalers to ensure Nevadans can access the abortion pill in retail pharmacies, including Walgreens.
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