Duckworth: Republicans Already Trying to Ban Abortion Nationwide
[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today issued the following statement after U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced legislation to establish a nationwide abortion ban:
“If you still don’t believe Republicans want to ban all abortions nationwide, you’re not paying attention. After a decades-long campaign to overturn Roe v. Wade, this proposal lays bare, in black and white, that Republicans never really wanted to ‘leave women’s rights to the states’ like they have long told the American people.
“While Democrats are successfully bringing down inflation, reducing our deficit and helping working families keep more money in their pockets, Republicans are focused on stripping away millions of Americans’ rights, banning abortions nationwide and blocking additional commonsense gun safety reforms that would help keep Americans safe.
“I refuse to let my daughters grow up in a world with fewer rights than I had. I will continue to do everything in my power to prevent this nationwide ban on basic healthcare that explicitly goes against what the vast majority of Americans want.”
Duckworth has made protecting and expanding access to essential reproductive healthcare a top priority. Last week, she joined U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) to condemn Republican attacks on the Biden Administration’s landmark decision to allow the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to provide abortion care to Veterans and their eligible dependents to protect the health and life of the woman and in cases of rape or incest.
In August, she helped introduced the Reproductive Healthcare Accessibility Act to help ensure women with disabilities—who face discrimination and extra barriers when seeking care—can access reproductive services and get the informed care they need to have control over their own reproductive lives. In July, she helped introduced the Right to Contraception Act, legislation that would codify the fundamental and constitutional right to contraception, just days after writing to President Biden and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, urging them to immediately declare national and public health emergencies over Americans’ access to reproductive care.
In May, she visited Hope Clinic in Granite City, IL, and met with Director Erin King and staff to share her support for ensuring Americans everywhere can access safe and necessary healthcare. Weeks later, she helped introduce a resolution opposing the criminalization of the full range of reproductive and sexual healthcare, including abortion, gender-affirming care and contraceptive care. The resolution also disapproves of the criminalization of pregnancy outcomes. Also in May, she voted for the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), legislation that would help protect women’s constitutional right to choose, which was ultimately blocked by Senate Republicans. In a speech on the Senate floor she shared her support of Americans’ reproductive rights and urged her colleagues to pass the WHPA. Additionally, Duckworth is the lead sponsor of the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Healthcare (EACH) Act, which would end the Hyde Amendment and lift unjust abortion coverage restrictions for those who depend on Medicaid and other government-sponsored plans.
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